


Determination

by castivak



Category: Supernatural, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Confused Jack Kline, Gen, Human Jack Kline, Hurt Jack Kline, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jack Kline Feels, Jack Kline Has PTSD, Jack Kline Whump, POV Jack Kline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:06:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23664349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/castivak/pseuds/castivak
Summary: jack knew of the stories about mount ebott, that those who go never return, but he went anyway and the next thing he knew, he was waking up on a bed of golden flowers.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> \- jack is a human at about age 10, i'm not entirely sure it's up to interpretation.  
> \- this is not scene by scene of the actual game, some stuff is added and/or removed.  
> \- jack's taking frisk's place in the story.

jack gasped as he awoke, wide eyes staring up at the bright white light that was seeping in from the opening in what appeared to be the cave ceiling, said opening being many miles away and something that would be impossible to get to just by climbing, the realization that he was stuck here made tears spring into his eyes; jack wanted to run away but he didn't want to die, he wanted to find a new home, one that made him feel cozy and warm, not discomforted and cold.

but now, he was trapped at the bottom of a cave that nobody dared to enter, doomed to perish from starvation or something else just as slow and agonizing.

slowly, jack stood up and stepped off of the large flowerbed, seeing old stone pillars that looked to be crumbling apart and vines growing wildly along the cave walls, an archway not to far away from him that led to what just seemed to be more dark cave; nowhere to go but forward, right? with a heavy sigh and quick brush of his clothes to get the dust off, the boy walked towards and through the arch, hoping that things would be better than he thought.

"howdy!"

jack jumped at the small but rather loud voice, looking down and seeing a golden flower with a wide smile on it's face; wait, flowers don't have faces. "i'm flowey! flowey the flower!" it beamed and jack got down on his knees, "hello." he mumbled with a wave and the flower swayed it's head as if it was waving back, "you're new to the underground, aren'tcha?"

the underground? wasn't that where the monsters were banished? are the legends true?

at jack's silence, flowey giggled, "golly! you must be so confused. someone 'ought to teach you how things work around here."

"is it different than....uh.....aboveground?"

again, flowey giggled, "why don't i just show ya!"

jack gasped as there was a weird pull feeling at his chest, eyes widening as a little red heart began to float infront of him and flowey, backing up a little to get a better look at it, amazed and frightened at the sight, reaching out a hand and touching the thing, his fingers brushing against it and a warm feeling enveloped his hand, "see that heart? that's your soul!" flowey informed and jack looked to the flower, "my--my soul?"

"yep! the very culmination of y'er being! it's a little weak, but grow stronger if you gain a lot of LV!" 

"LV? what's that stand for?"

"why, LOVE of course! you want some LOVE, don'tcha?" flowey questioned with a grin and the blonde nodded, excited for what the flower was going to show him, "don't worry, i'll share some with you!" it added and little white seeds appeared from behind it's petals, circling around jack's soul, "don't be afraid to move around, buddy! gather as much as you can!"

jack moved his hand in circle, trying to get his soul to move with him and it copied his movements, but instead of the warmth he was expecting to feel from the LOVE, he was hit with a stinging pain and he let out a small cry, looking to flowey in fear that he did something wrong, only to see that the cheerful grin that was once on the flower's face was now a creepy toothy smile, "you IDIOT!" flowey shouted, making the boy jump back in surprise and large barbed vines shot up from the ground, coiling around jack and lifting him off the ground, the boy kicking legs and trying to free himself, but he wasn't strong enough.

"in this world, it's kill or be killed!"

the already tight vines tightened around him, the thorns poking through his clothes and piercing his skin, making him cry out in pain, "why would _anyone_ pass up an opportunity like this?!" flowey sneered before his eyes went completely black and a circle of seeds appeared around jack's soul once again, "DIE!" the flower screamed before erupting into evil laughter, the circle slowly closing in on jack's soul as he continued to struggle, wanting to break free and run, but it was pointless and the seeds grew closer and closer, the boy closing his eyes and just waiting for his end.

suddenly, warmth spread through his body and the pain that he was feeling before eased slightly, opening his eyes only to find that the seeds were no longer around his soul and there was a very confused expression on flowey's face, the sound of fire igniting meeting jack's ears before the vines around him let go and he fell to the floor, hitting the ground with a loud thud and he squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for whatever monster that attacked flowey to kill him too.

"what a terrible creature, torturing such a poor innocent youth." a soft and kind female voice cooed and jack hesitantly opened his eyes, seeing that flowey had disappeared and the plant life around them was now just smoldering blackened pieces, raising his head and seeing a tall woman wearing a purple and white dress, but her skin was covered in white fur, claws came from her feet and hands, and her head was very similar to a goat; horns and all.

was this a monster that he should fear? the flower seemed kind at first, so was anyone in the underground trustworthy?

the goat woman got down to her knees, reaching a hand out to jack and he backed away from her, not much due to the pain he was in but out of immediate reach and she gave him a gentle smile, "do not be afraid, my child. i am just going to heal your wounds." she cooed before placing a large hand on his head, the boy closing his eyes and welcoming the warm and fuzzy feeling that spread through him, all his pain vanishing and he opened his eyes as she removed her hand, a kind smile still on her face.

"i......thank you."

"oh dear, don't thank me." she cooed and jack sat up, "i am toriel, caretaker of the ruins. i pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down; you are the first human to fall in a long time." toriel informed and she stood up, holding a hand out to jack and he hesitantly took it, standing up, "come with me, i will guide you through the catacombs."

  
**•••**

  
jack made his way through the ruins, a cellphone that toriel had given him in his inner coat pocket and some wrapped pieces of candy he had found in the other; now alone as toriel had told him to stay behind while she went home to do something, but after a few minutes of waiting, jack couldn't help but wander through the place, wanting to explore.

there were a few encounters, all of them solved through acting and sparing as the boy did his best to make friends with the little monsters that called the ruins their home, using the pacifistic skills that the goat woman had taught him, every monster having a different personality that needed a different method to get it to be spared.

jack entered a dim hallway, stopping as he saw what looked to be a ghost laying down on a bed of the red leaves and he slowly approached, hearing the ghost making a "z" sound out loud as it pretended to sleep, "ex-excuse me?" jack tried and the ghost rose, making him jump back in surprise and his soul appeared in front of him along with the small option boxes with "FIGHT" and "MERCY" written on them, showing that he had been brought into a battle.

"oh......sorry.....didn't mean to scare you."

"what? oh, no, you're alright. just got a little surprised." jack cooed, trying to keep the rather sad sounding ghost calm but tears started to fall from the ghost's eyes, flying towards his soul and jack did his best to dodge them, getting touched a couple times and the tears barely hurting him, but they stung a little like if you got a drop of hot water on you. "don't cry, it's okay."

"i know we're supposed to fight but.....m'not really feeling up to it right now.....sorry."

"we don't have to fight, we can just talk if you'd like?" jack suggested, hoping that he could cheer this ghost up a little, "i have a little trick i can do.....s'not great or anything." the ghost mumbled and jack gave it a smile, "would you show me? i'd love to see it."

"oh.......okay......give me a second."

jack watched as the ghost began to cry again, but it's tears floated up towards his head and began forming a top hat, "i call it 'dapperblook'." it mumbled and jack let out a giggle at the joke, clapping a little for the ghost to cheer it on and the tiniest smile appeared on it's face, "thank you....i usually come to the ruins because there's nobody around....but today i meant somebody nice."

"i'm jack."

"napstablook......sorry for taking up your time, i'm going home now."

"don't be sorry." jack answered, but napstablook had already vanished and he frowned, having enjoyed the ghost's company and he could only hope that he'd see them again soon as he continued his journey through the ruins.

**•••**

  
red leaves crunched beneath jack's feet as he entered a room in the ruins, seeing a large purple bricked house infront of him with a dying tree in the front, dozens of red leaves that had fallen from its branches surrounding the roots; was this toriel's house? 

as if on cue, the monster's kind voice echoed through the room, "oh, dear, that took longer that i thought it would."

jack walked further into the room as he heard toriel walk closer, moving around the tree and the two made eye contact, the goat woman eyes widening and jaw dropping as she saw him and she rushed over, "how did you get here, my child? are you hurt?" she cooed and jack gave her a smile, "i'm alright."

"okay, but.....just to be safe."

toriel placed her hand on jack's head once again, her healing magic spreading through the boy and making him feel warm and safe, "i shouldn't have left you alone for so long, it was irresponsible of me." she sighed and jack just smiled, "i turned out okay, didn't i?"

"that's true, but still, i should've just waited to surprise you."

"surprise me?"

toriel blushed as she realize what she said, an embarrassed chuckle leaving her, "well, i suppose i might as well just show you now." she smiled and made the motion for him to follow, which he did and they went inside her home, the pleasing smell of cinnamon and butterscotch hitting him upon entry, "i wanted to celebrate your arrival, so i made a butterscotch cinnamon pie!"

a wide smile spread across jack's face, "you made it for me?"

"of course i did, i want you to enjoy living here."

"you want me to live here?" jack questioned, to which toriel gave him a smile, "why wouldn't i?" she mumbled and the boy stammered, not knowing how to answer and she once again motioned for him to follow her down the hall, which he did and she stopped at a bedroom door, "a room of your own, i hope you like it." toriel cooed before ruffling jack's hair, "make yourself at home, i'll be back in a minute."

as toriel left, jack entered the bedroom; a bed was tucked into the corner of the red painted room, a dresser and bookcase beside each other with a lamp illuminating it all, a stuffed elephant toy sitting on top of the pillow. the blonde sat down on the bed, taking the toy into his hands and smiling as he stroked its fur with his thumb, putting it back down gently next to the pillow before laying down himself, the exhaustion of the day catching up with him as his head touched the pillow and it didn't take long before he was asleep.

**•••**

  
an unknown amount of hours later, jack wandered out of the bedroom and into what he assumed was the living room, finding toriel sitting in a cushioned lounge chair reading a book, "oh, hello dear, did you sleep well?" she cooed upon seeing him enter the room, "i slept okay, i just wanted to ask you something."

"what is it?"

jack swallowed, anxiously fiddling with his fingers, pondering if he should really ask her how to leave the ruins; it's not like he didn't like this home! it was a wonderful home, better than the one he had on the surface, but he knows that the good people in his life back up on the surface will be wanting to know where he is and if he is okay and if he's even alive. 

everyone knows the legend about mount ebott, but what if he made it back? there are people he'll miss and while toriel has done so much for him already, he can't just abandon everything.

"......how do i exit the ruins?"

a brief melancholy expressiom flashed across toriel's face before she simply closed her book and gave jack a small smile, "will you excuse me a moment? i have something i need to take care of." she informed before getting up and walking out of the room, jack's curiosity getting the better of him and he followed her down the stairwell that he saw when they first entered the home, finding a long hallway that toriel was walking down and he followed close behind.

"ahead of us lies the end of the ruins, a one way exit to the rest of the underground." toriel informed as she walked, not looking to jack as she continued forward, "i am going to destroy it."

"and keep you, me, and all the other monsters in here trapped? why?"

toriel's expression went cold, "every human that falls down here meets the same fate, i have seen it again and again; they come, they leave, they die. if you leave, they will kill you. i am only trying to protect you, jack."

"i've been in battles before and i've been okay, i can keep going and i won't get killed. i'll be safe, toriel."

as they turned a corner, jack saw a large door at the end of the room, toriel walking up to it and stopping, taking a breath before turning to jack, "you want to leave so badly? then prove to me that you are strong enough to survive."

at those words, jack's soul appeared in front of him again, along with the option boxes, and his heart dropped, he had to fight toriel?

"toriel, i don't want to fight you." he tried, only for her to raise a hand and for a flame to appear from her palm, "some monsters will give you no choice." she spoke before throwing her hand to the ground, jack jumping back as lines of fire ignited at his feet, his mind scrambling to find words to say but none would come to him, only moving away from the sweltering heat, looking up at the goat woman who had treated so kindly and seeing a blank expression, but the look in her eyes showed remorse.

she didn't want to do this either, but she seemed to need confirmation that he was strong enough to survive, so jere they were.

the fire at jack's feet disappeared and both of toriel's hands lit up with fire magic, thrusting her arms forward and flames shot out of her hands, the blonde barely jumping out of the way of the fire and the sleeve of his coat got singed as he went down to the ground, the cloth blackening and a burnt hole forming, showing the long sleeve shirt that he was wearing underneath, "i'm grateful for everything you've done toriel, but please just let me go." he tried once again and her flames diminished, but the look on her face didn't change.

seems like talking wasn't going to change anything.

jack stood up and he gulped, looking at the option boxes in front of him and he put his hand to the "MERCY" box, the expression on toriel's face changing from blank to sorrow as he touched the "SPARE" option, neither of them speaking and toriel raised her hands again, summoning flames and they flew at jack, but they seemed to move away once they got close to him and to test his theory, he reached out to one of the balls of fire, only to find that it moved away from his touch.

toriel didn't want to hurt him.

again, jack selected the "SPARE" option and the flames around him grew smaller, but they still passed by him, "why won't you fight back?" she asked and the boy just looked up at her, pressing "SPARE" once again, the fire getting dimmer, "please go back up stairs, my child. i will take care of you."

silently, jack selected "SPARE".

"i know you want to go home, and i know we don't have much, but.....i can try and make your life good, my child."

again, he selected "SPARE" and the fire around him dissapeared completely, toriel giving him a sad smile and his heart sank, knowing that she just wanted to keep him safe but he couldn't stay here forever, "ha.....i cannot even save a single child." she mumbled to herself and jack walked forward, "i understand, you'd just be unhappy trapped down here, it isn't fair to you to raise you in such a small place such as this."

toriel looked to jack, giving him a tiny and sad smile, "if you truly wish to leave, then i will not stop you. but, please....do not try and return here. i hope you understand." she cooed and jack nodded, "i'll stay safe." he smiled and she bent down to his height, wrapping her arms around him and a warm hug and he hugged back, burying his face in her shoulder, "thank you."

pulling away, toriel sadly smiled at the boy, "goodbye, my child." she whispered before walking away and he watched her leave, hating that he made her so upset but he had to keep going, staying behind wouldn't do either of them good in the end. with a deep breath, jack turned to the door and pushed it open, being met with freezing cold air and a forest of pine trees, snow littering their branches and coating the ground.

it seemed terrifying, but jack was filled with **determination**.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like i said before, jack's age is up to interpretation because i'm writing him like he is in the supernatural canon (with a bit of projection) instead of like a ten year old, so you may read him as whatever age you like.

icy snow crunched beneath jack's feet as he ventured through the thick forest, arms crossed over his chest as he tried to keep warm, lucky that he was wearing boots because he knew that any other type of shoe would be soaked through, shivering and keeping his head up, knowing that there had to be some type of civilization somewhere ahead.

as he came to a small bridge, the sound of someone else's footsteps met jack's ears and he tensed up, afraid to turn around as the steps grew louder and louder before they came a stop, "human." a deep voice spoke and the boy prepared himself for a battle, "don't you know how to greet a new pal? turn around amd shake my hand." the voice continued and jack gulped, slowly turning and holding a hand out, keeping his eyes closed in fear and a shiver running through him as he felt a bone-y hand grab his, his brow furrowing as the sound of a whoopee cushion deflating met his ears and he opened his eyes, only to see that he was holding hands with a skeleton in basketball shorts and a blue hoodie, along with some pink slippers and a wide grin; "heh, the ol' whoopee cushion in the hand trick, it's _always_ funny." the skeleton chuckled as it let go of jack's hand, the boy not sure how to respond so he didn't, but the skeleton didn't seem to mind.

"anyways, you're a human, right?"

jack nodded and the skeleton chuckled, "that's hilarious, i'm sans, sans the skeleton." he grinned and jack gave a small smile, raising his hand in a wave, "i'm jack, jack the human." he smiled and sams chuckled, "funny 'cause i'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now, but...y'know.....i don't really care about capturing anyone."

"monsters want to capture me?"

"not all of 'em, most of 'em don't really care either, but my brother, papyrus, he's a human-hunting fanatic---wait, actually i think i see him coming this way." sans mumbled as he looked behind jack, the boy turning and seeing a much taller skeleton in the distance, "hey, i got an idea, follow me." the skeleton smiled before walking over the bridge and jack followed, "go hide behind that lamp."

turning, jack noticed a lamp that was almost the exact height and shape of him, just a bit wider, "won't he see me?"

"just do it, kid."

jack hid behind the lamp, crouching down and hearing loud footsteps come their way, "sup, bro?" he heard sans ask and jack peaked around the lamp, seeing a skeleton that was easily twice his height and wearing some of red, white, and blue costume; was that some type of armor or just how he dressed? "you know what's "sup", brother! it's been eight days and you still haven't recalibrated your puzzles!" papyrus, most likely, shouted angrily. "you just hang around outside your station! what are you even doing?!"

"staring at this lamp, its really cool. d'ya wanna look?"

at this, papyrus stomped his foot and clenched his fists angrily, "no! i don't have time for that! what if a human comes through here?! i want to be ready! i will be the one! i must be the one!" the skeleton exclaimed, jack stifling a laugh because the poor guy could've just looked a little closer and found what he's been preparing for, "i will capture a human! then, i, the great papyrus, will get all the things i uttery deserve! respect! recognition! i will finally be able to join the royal guard!"

"hmmm.....maybe this lamp'll help you."

"sans! you are not helping! you lazybones, all you do is sit and boondoggle! you get lazier and lazier everyday!"

"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today, a _skele-ton_." sans smirked and jack couldn't help but smile, but papyrus didn't sound too pleased, "sans!"

"come on, you're smiling."

"i am, and i hate it......why does someone as great as me have to do so much just to get some recognition?"

"wow, sounds like you're really working yourself..... _down to the bone_."

papyrus groaned, "i will attend to my puzzles, but as for your work; maybe put a little more.... _backbone_ into it!" he exclaimed, laughing at himself triumphantly before running off, sans chuckling before looking to the lamp, "alright, you can come out now." sans called and jack got up, moving out from behind the lamp and going over to sans, "that was your brother?"

"yeah, really cool right? by the way, i'd get going if i were you because he might come back and if that happens, you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes." 

jack chuckled at sans' wink, waving at the skeleton before heading further into the woods, "wait, kid, can i ask you somethin'?" sans called and jack turned his head, nodding, "pap's been kinda down lately and seeing you would really make his day; don't worry, he isn't dangerous, even if he tries to be." he continued and the boy smiled with a nod, "thanks a million, bucko. i'll be up ahead."

despite his statement, sans walkes the opposite direction and jack furrowed his brow, shrugging to himself before continuing to walk.

  
**•••**

  
"so, as i was saying about undyne."

jack stopped as he heard papyrus' voice, having turned into the more opem area of the forest and found the skeletal brothers standing only a few feet ahead of him, the two obviously in a conversation about someone named "undyne" and jack had a feeling he would be meeting that monster soon; the blonde took a step forward and a branch crunched underneath his feet, getting their attention and he froze, papyrus' wide eye sockets staring at him and he awkwardly raised his hand in a wave, smiling a little so that the monster didn't attack him right away.

papyrus looked back to sans, before they both looked back to jack and the two did this for a little longer than they should've and jack couldn't help but laugh, "sans! oh my god! is that.......a human?" papyrus asked, toning his voice down at the end as if he was afraid of offending the human, "actually, i think thats a rock." sans mumbled and jack turned his head, seeing a rock behind him and papyrus faltered, "oh."

"hey, what's that infront of the rock?"

"oh my god!.....is that a human?"

"yes."

"oh my god!!! sans, i finally did it!" papyrus beamed, overjoyed at jack's presence, "undyne will--i'm gonna--i'll be so....popular! popular! popular!" he exclaimed, waving his fists in excitement before clearing his throat and standing in a more triumphant pose, trying to look tough, "human! you shall not pass this area! i, the greay papyrus, will stop you! i will then capture you, you will be delivered to the captial, then-!......i'm not sure what's next. in any case! continue, only if you dare!"

with a joyful cry, papyrus ran off and sans smiled, turning to jack, "well, that went well. don't sweat it, kid. i'll keep an eyesocket out for ya." he winked before following his brother, jack letting out a breathy chuckle as he watched them walk away.

  
**•••**

  
"you are so lazy! you were napping all night!"

"i think that's called sleeping."

"excuses! excuses!"

"hello." jack announced as he walked up to the skeletons, papyrus' face lighting up as he turned to the boy, "oh ho! the human arrives! he cheered and jack waved, "in order to stop you, my brother and i have created some puzzles! i think you will find this one....quite shocking! for you see, this is the invisible electricity maze!" the skeleton announced like a game show host, "when you touch the walls of this maze, this orb will administer a heart zap! sound like fun? because the amount of fun you will have is....actually rather small, i think."

papyrus pulled out a blue orb from his pocket, "you can go ahead now!"

jack stepped towards the maze, but as soon as his foot went into the space, the orb shocked papyrus and the boy jumped back with a gasp, covering his mouth in shock, "i'm so sorry! are you alright?" he asked in worry, hoping that he didn't hurt the monster all that much, "a small zap like that? ha! felt like nothing to the great papyrus!" the skeleton smiled, even though it obviously did something to him because he was rather frazzled, "sans! what did you do?!"

"uh, i think the human has to hold the orb."

"oh, okay." 

holding the orb, papyrus walked through the maze, but he left noticeable footprints behind him that jack would easily be able to trace back so that he didn't get shocked, "hold this please." papyrus smiled before placing the orb on top of jack's head, it sliding off and jack caught it in his hands, waiting for papyrus to walk back through the maze and stand next to his brother before he carefully made his way through, stepping on papyrus' footprints in the snow and making it through without being shocked, handing the orb back to a rather impressed papyrus once he was done.

"incredible! you slippery snail! you solved it so easily! however, the next puzzle will not be easy; it is designed by my brother, sans! you will surely be confounded!" 

with that said, papyrus ran off and jack looked to sans, who simply shrugged, "at least you're both havin' fun." he smiled before following his brother.

  
**•••**

  
"human! i hope you're ready for...."

papyrus trailed off as he looked at the paper on the ground, jack looking too and a little confused as to why a single piece of paper was the only thing standing between them right now, "sans, where's the puzzle?!" the skeleton cried, "it's right there on the ground. trust me, there's no way they can get past this one." sans reassured and jack walked forward, picking up the paper and seeing a word search that mimicked the kind that you'd find on kid's menus at family restaurants, the boy reading it for a moment and actually looking for some of the words before he walked towards them, much to papyrus' dismay, "sans, that didn't do anything!"

"whoops, i knew i should've used today's crossword instead."

"what?! crossword?! i can't believe you said that!" papyrus gawked, "in my opinion, junior jumble is easily the hardest." he sighed and sans turned to him, "what? really, dude? that easy-peasy word scramble? that's for baby bones." he mumbled and papyrus scoffed, "unbelievable! human, solve this dispute!"

jack faltered, trying to think of an answer, "uh.....well, i haven't done a word scramble in a long time because i don't use the kid menus anymore, but i'm particularly good at crosswords either. i feel like they can both be hard, but i guess word scrambles are harder because everything can get mixed up in your head."

"ha ha! i knew it! humans must be very intelligent, if they also find junior jumble so difficult!" papyrus beamed before running off to what jack assumed would be the next puzzle, sans chuckling and turning to jack, "thanks for humoring my brother, you're making him really happy." he smiled and jack shrugged, sans following after his brother.

  
**•••**

  
"it's the human!" papyrus cheered as jack approached them, a tiled platform between them and what looked like an old tv standing beside papyrus, "you're gonna love this puzzle! it was made by the great doctor alphys! you see these tiles?" the skeleton asked and jack nodded, "once i throw this switch, they will begin to change color and each color has a different function!" he informed before listing off each tiles function, jack trying to remember each ones function but there were so many that his brain couldn't contain all that information, only that red tiles weren't possible to step on and pink tiles were harmless, "does that make sense to you?"

without thinking, jack nodded and papyrus smiled, "great! one last thing; this puzzle is entirely random! when i pull this switch, it will make a puzzle that has never been seen before! not even i will know the solution! get ready!" he explained before flipping a switch, jack watching as the tiles before him lit up in several different colors, switching around and going incredibly fast before they stopped to form a wide line of pink tiles surrounded by red tiles.

it was a perfect set up for jack to cross without any harm.

at this realization, jack and sans stifled a laugh and papyrus remained blank and silent before leaving and once he was out of earshot, jack and sans laughed at the skeleton's frustration, the possibility of this happening being one in a million and it was hilarious; "jeez, poor guy." sans chuckled as jack crossed the tiled platform.

  
**•••**

  
"human! this is your final and most dangerous challenge!" papyrus announced as jack neared the end of a long bridge, the skeletons standing a few feet ahead on the snowy ground, "behold! the gauntlet of deadly terror!"

jack's eyes widened as a cannon, two spears, a flamethrower, and a mace appeared around him, all of which very close to him and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to dodge everything if they all activated at once; "when i say the word, it will fully activate! cannons will fire! spikes will swing! blades will slice! each part will swing violently up and down, only the tiniest chance of victory will remain! are you ready?! because i! am! about! to do it!"

jack shut his eyes and covered his head, waiting for papyrus to activate the trap but all he heard was the cold breeze wooshing by and he hesitantly opened his eyes, confused and afraid, "well? what's the hold up?" sans asked and papyrus stammered, "h-hold up? what hold up?! i'm....i'm about to activate it now!"

but, again, there was just silence.

"that, uh, doesn't look very activated."

"well....this challenge....it seems, maybe, too easy to defeat the human with." papyrus lied, "y-yeah! we can't use this one! i am a skeleton with standards! this method is too direct, no class at all! away it goes!" he exclaimed and the weapons disappeared, jack letting out a relieved breath, but so did papyrus and he looked at the skeleton with confusion, "wh-what are you looking at? this was another decisive victory for papyrus!" papyrus cried before storming off, jack crossing the bridge and stepping onto the snowy ground, sans looking to the blonde, "that was strange."

  
**•••**

  
jack shuddered as the coldness of snowdin suddenly got worse, pulling his jacket around himself in an attemptnto keep warm and he shielded his face as a gust of cold wind breezes by, sending snowflakes flying and sticking to his clothes and skin, removing his arm from his face and seeing papyrus standing in front of him, "human, allow me to tell you about some complex feelings." he announced and jack stopped, not entirely sure what was about to happen next, "feelings like; the joy of finding another pasta lover, the admiration for another's puzzle solving skills, the desire to have a cool, smart person think you are cool. these feelings.....they must be what you are feeling right now! i can hardly imagine what it must be like to feel that way. after all, i am very great. i don't ever wonder what having lots of friends is like, i pity you, lonely human."

 _ouch_.

"worry not! you shall be lonely no longer! i, the great papyrus, will be your......." papyrus trailed off, the smile on his face dropping and he clenched his fists, "no, no this is all wrong, i can't be your friend!"

jack frowned, stepping a little closer to the skeleton, "why not? you want to be friends, right?"

"b-but, you are a human! i must capture you! then i can fulfill my lifelong dream!" papyrus stammered, obviously frustrated with how to handle this situation and jack had a feeling that this wasn't going to go the direction he was hoping for, "powerful! popular! prestigious! that's papyrus, the newest member of the royal guard!" he exclaimed and jack felt that weird pull once again, his soul appearing before him along with the options and he straightened out, preparing himself for battle but he felt extremely unprepared when he saw papyrus summon a large bone that could be used as a deadly weapon.

"papyrus, i-i don't wanna fight you! does me being a human really stop us from having a relationship?"

"oh ho! so you finally reveal your ultimate feelings! well, i'm a skeleton with very high standards!" papyrus exclaimed, clearly taking jack's statement incorrectly and the blonde blushed, "n-no! no, not like that, a relationship where we're friends, a friendship." he tried to explained and papyrus cleared his throat, seeming flustered as well, "we can discuss the details after i capture you!"

jack opened his mouth to speak, but a row of bones came shooting up out of the ground near his feet and he jumped back, running away from the bones as more started to appear and he did his best to dodge them, coming to an abrupt halt as several blue bones sprouted up beneath him, remembering that sans told him to not move if something was colored blue, trying his very best to stay still until the bones vanished.

"ho ho! humans are more clever than i thought! but, don't think you've bested me yet! i can almost taste my future popularity!" 

with a swing of the bone-sword, a row of sharp bones sprouted from behind jack and he ran as fast as he could, the bones following him as he did so and he tripped, falling face first into the snow and he winced as some of the bones cut across his leg, tearing through his pants and making him bleed, but he wouldn't let that stop him and he pushed himself onto his feet, pressing the spare option and papyrus' eyesockets widened, jack unsure if it was from the injury or the spare, "wh-what?! you can't spare me! we're fighting!"

"you're fighting me, doesn't mean i have to fight back."

papyrus froze, unsure how to react before he shook his head, throwing his hands up and jack sprinted away as bones appeared once again, more and more coming up from the ground and the boy jumped and ran away the best he could, getting some injuries but nothing that would stop him even if he was leaving trails of blood in the snow, repeatedly pressing spare and frustrating papyrus more and more, "agh! who cares! just give up!"

with that cry, papyrus slammed the bone glaive into the snow, a mixture of blue and white bones going towards jack and he had to alternate between running and moving, it seeming like forever before the bones disappeared and jack plopped into the snow with a huff, looking up at papyrus and breathing heavily, the skeleton doing the same, "you think you've won, don't you human? but, you're so very wrong! behold, my special attack!" he exclaimed and he launched his bone sword towards jack, the blonde gasping and trying to move out of the way before it did more damage than he could handle.

but, he didn't have to worry because a large white dog appeared out of nowhere, leaping into the air and snatching the bone, landing in the snow as it happily munched on the bone, jack swore he could see steam exit papyrus' ears, "what the heck?! that's my special attack, you stupid dog! stop munching on that bone!" the skeleton cried and the fluffy dog looked at him before it sprinted off with papyrus' special attack, "where are you going?! get back here!!"

jack chuckled as the dog run off, disappearing in the distance and papyrus didn't chase it, letting out a frustrated sigh before turning to jack, "well, it seems......that you can't defeat me! yes, i can see you shaking in your boots! so, i, the great papyrus, shall grant you mercy!" he exclaimed and the boy happily accepted, exhausted from all the running and frankly his injuries were getting to him and he flopped back into the snow, staring up at the sky as snowflakes fell onto him.

suddenly, papyrus leaned over him with a look of concern, "uh.....human? are you alright?" he mumbled and jack didn't respond, not really sure how to, "oh no, i didn't want to hurt you, just capture. luckily, i know how to fix this!" the skeleton declared before simply snappimg his fingers and jack gasped as the warmth of a healing spell rushed through him, just like toriel's had, the boy slowly sitting up and seeing that there was no longer bleeding gashes around his legs and his pants had even been fixed back together, just some small blood splotches remained.

"thank you."

"just another excellent deed by the great papyrus!"

jack stood up with a smile, only to see that papyrus' smile had fallen, "undyne's going to be so disappointed in me, though. i was meant to capture you, and now i'll never join the royal guard and my friend quantity will remaim stagnant." he sighed and jack looked down, feeling a little bad that the skeleton's dreams were now crushed, "well, i can't really help on the royal guard part, but i can help with the friend part." he suggested and papyrus's face lit up, "really? you want to be friends with me?"

"of course i do, you're the coolest skeleton i've ever met."

"oh wowie! who knew all i needed to make pals was to give people awful puzzles and then fight them?!" he beamed, waving his fists in excitement and jack chuckled, "you have taught me a lot, human! i hereby grant you permission to pass through! and, i'll give you directions to the surface." papyrus smiled, "continue forward until you reach the end of the cavern, then when you reach the capital; cross the barrier, or the magical seal trapping us all underground."

"it's that easy?"

"well, only someone with a powerful soul can cross the barrier and you, my great friend, have a very powerful soul as a human! that's why the king wants to acquire a human, he wants to open the barrier with soul power so us monsters can return to the surface. oh! and to get to the barrier, you must pass through the king's castle."

jack tensed at that, the king wanted his soul and he had to pass through the guy's castle? yikes. "the king....is he.....scary?" he asked and papyrus chuckled, "oh no! he's a big fuzzy pushover, everybody loves that guy! i am certain if you just say; 'excuse me, mister dreemurr, can i please go home?', he'll guide you right to the barrier himself!" he beamed, "anyways, thats enough talking, i'll be at home being a cool friend! feel free to come by and hang out, like friends do!"

once that was said, papyrus ran back home and jack watched, smiling, knowing that he would be "hanging out like friends do" very soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jack's parents were kelly and nick, which will make sense when you read this chapter.
> 
> also, i'm going to try and add pieces of story to this that weren't in game that apply to what i think to be jack's life on the surface in this au so yeah!

jack's footsteps echoed beneath him, along with the faint creaking of the wooden pier and the subtle flow of water, having ventured on from snowdin and now making his way through waterfall; apparently king dreemurr wasn't the most creative with names.

it was extremely dark here, the only light coming from the glowing crystals on the ceiling and cavern walls, but certain rooms barely had any light and jack had to go through them practically blind, terrified that a monster may come out and jump him any moment, especially from the dark waters beneath him.

jack screamed as a glowing blue spear came flying out of nowhere, embedding itself in the wood in front of him and he fell to the ground after jumping back, looking up to his right where the arrow came from and finding a monster dressed in a knight's armor, his heart racing and the knight summomed another blue spear, the boy's brain catching up and he jumped up, taking off into a sprint and covering his head whenever a spear whizzed past him.

one brushed past him, slicing across his bicep and he tried to ignore it, knowing that if he stopped then he'd surely be stabbed through the chest, blood soaking into his torn sleeve and running down his arm, but he kept going and going, finally getting off the boardwalk and onto solid ground, ducking into a thick field of tall grass and attempting to hide from the knight, huddling down and making himself as small as possible as he heard the clangs of their footsteps.

the footsteps stopped and jack looked up, barely able to see that the knight had stopped a couple feet away and they reached into the field, grabbing a young monster and pulling him out of the plants, said monster kid smiling up at the knight and they put the child back down before storming off, not even noticing that jack was there and he let out a breath of relief, crawling his way out of the thick grass.

rapid and small footsteps met jack's ears and he turned around, seeing the small lizard-like monster kid from before jumping out of the bushes, absolutley beaming; "yo! did you see that?!" he cried while jumping in joy, "undyne just....touched me! i'm never washing my face ever again!" the kid beamed and jack chuckled, happy that someone enjoyed that, "man, are you unlucky. if you were standing just a little bit to the left! but, don't worry, i'm sure we'll see her again!"

with that said, the kid ran off, tripping but getting back off with ease before speeding off again, jack reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bandanna he had bought in snowdin, tying it around his bicep to act as a bandage for his wound.

  
**•••**

  
" _ **take an umbrella!**_ "

jack looked to the sign then to the bin of multicolored umbrellas, going over and pulling out a blue one, opening it over his head and the water that was dripping from the dozens of stalagtites hanging from the cave's ceiling, creating a never ending gentle rainstorn, had stopped soaking into his clothes and hair, the boy walking along the stone floor and jumping into the occasional puddle, smilikg at the splashes he would create.

"yo! you got an umbrella?!" a shrill but recognizable voice called and jack looked to his left, seeing the monster kid from before doing his best to hide from the rain, not having arms to hold an umbrella and jack waved for him to came over, the monster running underneath the umbrella and walking alongside the blonde. "you know undyne right?! isn't she the coolest?!"

"i've never talked to her."

"you don't need to talk to her to know that she totally rocks! she beats up bad guys and _never_ loses! oh man, if i was a human, i'd wet the bed every night knowing that she was gonna beat me up!"

jack awkwardly chuckled, this kid must think that he was just some "weird" looking monster if he didn't think that he was a human, "do humans count as bad guys?" the boy asked, "my parents say so and so does undyne, i trust her. but, i dunno, haven't met a human before." the kid muttered and jack was tempted to tell him, but he decided against it and they kept walking. "so, one time, we had a school project where we had to take care of a flower and the king, we had to call him mister dreemurr, volunteered to donate his own flowers."

"that sounds nice of him."

"the project was really lame, flowers take forever to grow and it's so much work, the king was telling us about how much of a responsibility it is and it got me thinking; how cool would it be if undyne came to school?! she could beat up all the teachers!---well, she wouldn't beat up the teachers probably, she's too cool to ever hurt an innocent person."

jack smiled at that, this kid looked up to undyne so much and he understood why; she was a hero to all the monsters as was the rest of the royal guard, but jack was a human and she was responsible for the dry blood on his jacket.

"yo, dude, check it out!"

jack turned his head at the monster's call, seeing a gigantic castle in the distance, miles and miles away, "that's the king's castle?" he asked and monster kid nodding, "neat, huh? i'd love to see it someday!" he beamed and jack smiled, "i hope you do." he mumbled before they began walking again, finding another bin filled with umbrellas and jack realized that the "rain" was dying down, so he put it back. "this ledge is way too steep." monster kid groaned as they reached what looked to be an inaccessible cliff, it too high for either of them to climb.

"wait, you wanna see undyne right?!"

"uh.....yes."

"climb on my shoulders! you'll be high enough!"

"are you sure? what about you?"

"don't worry about me, i always find a way! c'mon!" the kid exclaimed and jack hesitantly climbed on the monster's shoulders, pulling himself up onto the cliff and the kid cheered as he made it up, "see you later, dude!" he beamed for running off, tripping again but getting back up and continuing his sprint.

  
**•◇•**

  
jack stopped walking on another wooden boardwalk as a blue circle lit up infront of him, unsure of what to do as more and more lit up around him, gasping as arrows shot up from them and he spotted the knight from before, he was undyne he supposed, standing on the boardwalk beneath him and as soon as the arrows disappeared, he took off running, weaving his way through glowing arrows as they shot up from the ground, not wanting to have another wound to worry about.

this boardwalk was a mess though, full of dead ends and wrong turns, causing jack to have to constantly turn back around and try another route, eventually finding the right way or what he thought was the right way as the boardwalk led to one large open space, undyne now following right behind him as he did his best to avoid the arrows she was summoning, the blonde coming to an abrupt hault as he was met with a dead end, turning around to see undyne a few feet away from him.

".......h-hello." he tried, raising his hand in a wave and undyne did nothing except take a few steps forward, jack's heart pounding in his chest as he waited for her next to move, the warrior summoning three spears and sending them all towards the ground, cutting the wound in between her and jack, making his end no longer supported and along with the wooden boards, the boy began to fall and he screamed as he did so, jumping forward to try and get to safe ground but it didn't work, tears springing to his eyes and he figured that this was really it this time, that nothing would be there to safely break his fall and he'd crash into cold water.

but, much to his surprise, jack woke up with a gasp a few hours later, sitting up in shock and he looked around, seeing that he was not dead and that he was on another pile of golden flowers in some trash filled water.

  
**•••**

  
"oh no.....you're bleeding.....a lot."

jack looked away from napstablook and down at himself, seeing that the mad dummy had caused a fair amount of damage to his skin and his clothes, several rips in his layers of clothing, bleeding seeping out from them and the old wound from undyne had reopened, not to mention he was rather soaked from having to make his way through the garbage dump's water, "i.....i don't really know how to fix them."

"i do......let me help.....it won't take long."

without any movement, jack felt napstablook's healing magic rush through him and heal his wounds, cleaning up the blood and fixing his damaged clothes, the boy looking up at the ghost and jumping forward, hugging him and somehow not fazing through him, "thank you." he smiled and he pulled away, swearing that he saw the tiniest smile appear on napstablook's face, "oh.....it was nothing.....just wanted to help."

"you did, a lot."

"okay......um....would you like some food?......before you go, i mean.....you don't have to, of course......"

jack smiled, "i'd love some."

  
**•◇•**

  
"yo!"

jack stopped walking alomg the bridge at the familiar cry, turning around and seeing monster kid walk up to him, looking a little upset, "um, i'm really not supposed to be here right now, but i wanna ask you something." he mumbled and jack felt uneasy, but nodded for him to continue, "i've never had to ask anyone this before, but you're.....you're a human, right?"

".....yeah, i am."

monster kid's eyes widened, "i knew it! well, i know it now. undyne told me to 'stay away from that human'.....so, i guess that makes us enemies or something? but, i kinda stink at that, so say something mean so i can hate you."

"i'm not gonna be mean to you, i don't want to be your enemy."

"man, so i have to do it? okay, here goes nothing." he mumbled, thinking of an insult and jack frowned, both of them hating this, "i....i hate your guts.......man, i'm such a turd. i'm....i'm gonna go home now." the kid stammered before running off, tripping again and falling off the bridge, jack watching in shock as he fell and luckily landed on a small ledge beneath but he couldn't climb up on his own and that ledge wasn't very sturdy.

"h-help! i tripped!" he cried and jack rushed over, hearing the familiar clang of undyne's footsteps but he didn't even glance towards her, bending down and helping monster kid back up onto the bridge safely, "are you okay?" the boy cooed and the kid smiled, "y-yeah, thanks." he mumbled and they both turned, seeing undyne standing a few feet away on the bridge and much to jack's surprise, monster kid's glared at her and stepped in front him.

"i-if you wanna hurt my friend, then you're gonna have to get through me, first."

undyne faltered, slowly backing away before running off, jack standing back up and watching her leave, "she's gone...."

monster kid turned back to the boy, "i guess being enemies was just a nice thought." he chuckled and jack smiled, "we'll just have to be friends instead." he replied and the kid laughed, "man, i should really get home, i bet my parents are worried sick about me."

with that said, monster kid ran off without tripping and jack watched him until he was no longer visible, turning himself and continuing to walk, approaching a large cave and he was about to walk inside when he saw a figure standing on top of the cave and he froze, recognizing the armor immediately.

"seven....seven human souls and king asgore will become a god." she spoke, her voice sending chills down jack's spine, "six; that's how many we've collected thus far. with your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed. but first, as is customary for those who make it this far, i shall tell you the tragic tale of our people."

jack waited, watching undyne and her fist clenched, "no, you know what? screw it! why should i tell you that story when you're about to die?!" she screamed and tore off her helmet, her piranha fangs curled up into a determined snarl, her one eye glaring down at jack and it made his stomach turn in an awful way, "you're standing in the way of everybody's hopes and dreams! alphys' history books made me think humans were cool, with their giant robots and flowery swordswoman."

"with our what?"

undyne didn't even acknowledge jack's response, either unable to hear or not caring, "you're just a coward! hiding behind that kid so you could run away from me again! and let's not forget your wimpy goody-two-shoes schtick!" she snarled, pissed off beyond belief and jack wished that he could tell her that he's not evil or a coward, that he just wants to go back to the surface, but he had a strong feeling that she would never listen to him. " 'oooooh, im making such a different by hugging random strangers!', you know what would be more valuable to everyone? if you were dead!"

jack looked down, having heard that one before but it still stung just as hard as the first time, "your life is all that stands between as and our freedom! everyone's been waiting their whole lives for this moment, but we're not nervous at all because when everyone puts their hearts together, they can't lose! human, let's end this right here! right now! i'll show you how determined monsters can be!"

raising her hand, undyne summoned a blue glowing spear and she gripped it tightly, taking a fly leap down and landing on the ground in front of jack, fear filling the boy from top to bottom, "en guarde!" she grinned and swung her spear at him, jack barely jumping away in time and undyne only moved towards him, slashing and stabbing at him with her spear, but only managing to hit him once or twice and not evem that harshly.

"ngah! alright, enough warming up!"

with that cry, she slammed her spear into the ground and several other spears sprouted at jack's feet, barely dodging them and he took off running, knowing that her attack were only going to get more powerful and as he sprinted towsrds the cave, the warrior let out a frustrated cry, "aagh! coward!" she screamed and chased after him, throwing spears in his direction and he covered his head, ducking and moving out of the way, one of the spears slicing against his side and he cried out, gasping as a sudden row of arrows sprouted in front of him and he came to an abrupt halt, the wall blocking him from advancing for now and undyne leaped infront of him, "you won't get away from me this time!"

"w-we don't need to fight!"

at his feeble attempt to get her to calm down, undyne laughed, "man, you really are a wimp!"

using more of her magic, undyne summoned more spears and through them jack's way, most of them being dodged once again and he noticed that the wall of spears she made was no longer there and after a few attacks, jack ran past the warrior as fast as he could, the temperature around him changing as they moved on from waterfall and into an area that he figured was named "hotland" given the gigantic sign they past by.

jack struggled to dodge arrow after arrow as they crossed a bridge, lava flowing beneath them now instead of water and he tripped at the very end, landing onto rough rock and he sat up, turning around to only to see that undyne was now struggling to attack, sweat soaking her scaley skin, "can't....give up." she muttered through clenched teeth, raising a hand to summon a spear but her eyes rolled back and she collapsed onto the ground, overheated.

jack gulped, staring at her body for a moment as his brain tried to figure out what the hell to do and he turned his head, spotting a water cooler and he slowly got up, walking over to it and taking a couple cups from it, filling them up with cold water (how was it still cold in such a heated area?) and he walked over to undyne, bending down and kind of sloppily pouring the water onto her head, hoping that it did something and he backed up, watching her slowly regain consciousness before jumping up in shock, looking around to see who helped her before her eyes landed on the blonde boy with two disposable cups in his hands. 

the two stared at each other for a moment, silence filling the air, before undyne began to back away and then walked away in defeat, leaving jack shocked and relieved.

  
**•◇•**

  
" _hey! what's up? i was just thinking that you, me, and undyne should all hang out sometime! i think you would make grest pals! lets meet up at her house later!_ "

papyrus' voicemail replayed in jack's head over and over as he made his way back through waterfall, walking past napstablook's house and what he assumed to be undyne's house, given that it was shaped as a giant piranha head and papyrus was standing infront of it; "oh ho! the human arrives!" the skeleton cheered and jack smiled as he approached, "are you ready to hang out with undyne? i have a plan to make you two great friends!"

"y-yeah, totally."

"you're bleeding again, human. but not to worry! i, the great papyrus, will heal you!"

with a snap of his fingers, papyrus' magic made the spear-related wound on jack's side disappear along with the blood, "thank you." he smiled and the skeleton waved his hand, "nothing the great papyrus couldn't handle!" he beamed before turning around, knocking on the door and the boy hid behind papyrus as best he could, the door opening in front of them, "hi papyrus, ready for your extra private one-on-one training?"

"you bet i am! and i brought a friend!"

papyrus moved out of the way so that jack and undyne could see each other, it taking undyne a second to realize who she was looking at and her calm smile turned into an angry snarl, sending jack's panic through the roof; "why don't. you two. come in?" she commented through clenched teeth before going back inside, jack and papyrus following her.

undyne's house was rather nice actually; a kitchen table with a fish patterned cloth covering it sat near the wall of the single room that doubled as a living room and kitchen, her bedroom seeming to be what was on the other side of the door that was in the back corner.

"here undyne! my friend brought a gift for you, on their own!" papyrus cheered before handing undyne a bone wrapped in decorative paper and a bow, the warrior taking it, "thanks, i'll put it with the others." she mumbled before going over to a draw in her kitchen counter, putting the wrapped bone in the wrapped-bone-filled drawer, "so, are we ready to start?"

"whoopsie doopsie! i just remembered, i have to go to the bathroom! you two have fun!"

before anyone could comment, papyrus launched himself out of undyne's window, which wasn't opened and jack slapped his hands over his mouth in surprise, feeling a little betrayed that papyrus just left him here with the monster who wanted him dead, but he had to admire the skeleton's attempts at making all his friends get along.

"so, why are you here?"

jack turned back to undyne as she spoke, dropping his hands, "is it to rub your victory in my face? to humiliate me even further? is that it?!" she growled, "no! no, i wouldn't do that to you." he rushed out, trying to make peace between them but he had a feeling that it would take forever for that to happen, "then.....wait, i get it. you think that i'm gonna be friends with you, huh?"

"well, i was hoping...."

"really?! how delightful! i accept! let's all frolick in the fields of friendship!" undyne exclaimed, her speech dripping in sarcasm and jack crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at his feet, "why would i ever be friends with you?! if you weren't my houseguest, i'd beat you up right now!"

"that hasn't stopped people before."

"huh?"

"dang! what a shame!" papyrus called from the window, the monster and human turning to see the skeleton peaking his head in, "i thought undyne could be friends with you, but i guess is overestimated her. she's just not up to the challenge." he sighed before disappearing, "challenge?! what?! papyrus, wait!" undyne called but it was useless and she turned back to jack, "he thinks i can't be friends with you?! ha, what a joke! i could make friends with a wimpy loser like you any day! i'll show him!"

"wait, we--"

"listen up, human! we're not just going to be friends, we're going to be besties! i'll make you like me so much that you won't be able to think of anyone else!"

jack gulped; this was going to be interesting.

"why don't you have a seat?" undyne smiled, her expression completely different and it was obvious that she didn't want to be all kind and soft to him, but jack wasn't going to point it out so he sat down at the table, "would you like something to drink? tea, soda, hot coco?" 

"uh, tea would be nice."

"coming right up!"

jack sat in silence, patiently waiting as undyne boiled some water in a kettle and set up a mug with a tea bag, the kettle hissing and she poured water into the mug, adding sugar before carrying it over to jack and placing it on the table in front him, "here you are." she smiled and he smiled back, "thank you." he mumbled before sipping on it carefully, it hot but still good.

"you know, it's kinda strange you chose that tea; golden flower tea."

jack looked up from his mug, raising a brow, "why's it strange?"

"it's asgore's favorite kind. heh, you kind of remind me of him, actually."

"i remind you of the king?"

"yeah, you're both total weenies." undyne chuckled, "well, sort of." she added and jack smiled, sipping on his drink, "....ya know, i was a pretty hotheaded kid." undyne spoke, her tone much different than before and jack stayed silent, wanting to hear her story; "once to prove i was the strongest, i tried to fight asgore, emphasis on tried. i couldn't land a single blow on him! and worse, the whole time he refused to fight back! i was so humiliated, but afterwards he apologized and said something kinda silly; "excuse me, do you want to know how to beat me?". i said yes and from then on, he trained me. one day, during practice, i finally knocked him down and i.....i felt bad. but, he was beaming. i had never seen someone more proud to get their butt kicked! heh, anyway, long story short; he kept training me and now i'm the head of the royal guard. so, now i'm the one who gets to train dorks to fight!"

"like who?"

"like, uh.....papyrus. but, to be honest, i don't know if i can ever let him into the royal guard---don't tell him i said that!"

jack chuckled, "i won't, promise." he mumbled and undyne smiled a little, "it's not that he's weak, he's actually pretty freaking tough, it's just....he's way too innocent and nice. i mean, he was supposed to capture you but ended up befriending you instead! i could never send him into battle!" she explained and jack looked down, feeling bad for papyrus because he knew very well that the skeleton was strong as hell, but undyne was right; papyrus was way too friendly to be a warrior. "so, i started teaching him how to cook, instead. maybe he could something else with his life, ya know?"

"yeah, i get it. he's......he's a good friend, though."

"damn right he is." undyne chuckled and jack looked down at his mostly empty mug, ".......this tea was my mom's favorite, actually." he mumbled, "hey, isn't your mom like.....crazy worried or something? i mean, you're here instead of at home." undyne asked, the fighter's tone actually sounding like she cared and jack looked up, "oh, uh......my mom died awhile ago, was just me and my.....my father......he's not worried about me."

"why not?"

"he told me to leave."

"you're his kid." undyne gawked and jack let out a humourless chuckle, "it's funny how they say to watch out for monsters when everyone down here has treated me infinitely better than i was ever treated on the surface---well, that's not true. my mother's family wasn't mean, but i rarely saw them. they....they live past mount ebott and that's hours away from where we lived, so....."

jack trailed off, clearing his throat after a moment, "i'm sorry, i didn't mean to bring the mood down, you're being really nice and i'm just--"

"dude, shut up, it's fine." undyne interrupted and jack smiled a bit, "i don't think this is what papyrus expected to happen---or maybe it's exactly what he expected." he mumbled and the warrior laughed before sudden realization filled her expression, "papyrus' cooking lesson, he was supposed to have that right now!" she exclaimed before jumping out of her seat, making jack jump in surprise, "but, if he's not here to have it then....you'll have to have it for him!"

"really?"

"nothing has brought me and papyrus closer than cooking; if i give you his lesson, then we'll become closer than ever!"

undyne lunged forward, grabbing jack's hand and yanking him out of his seat, pulling him towards her kitchen counter, going into her drawers and tossing assorted vegetables and tomatoes onto the counter, "let's start with the sauce! now, envision these vegetables as your greatest enemy! pound them to dust!"

hesitantly, jack slammed his fist onto a tomato, it squishing beneath him and sending juice and seeds everywhere, but undyne was beaming; "hell yeah, that's the spirit! my turn!" she roared and slamed her fists down onto the counter, crushing the food beneath her hands and sending juices flying everywhere, including her and jack's faces, the foods smooshed into a paste that jack was pretty sure wouldn't work as a sauce, "we'll put those into a bowl later, now time for the pasta!"

undyne threw a pot and a box of noodles onto the stove, not even pouring water into the bowl as she was way too into the activity, jack grabbing the box and grabbing the noodles, snapping the bundle of dry pasta in half before dropping them into the bowl, "yeah, i'm into it! time to stir!" she cried and summoned a spear, using her magic to stir it, but her method of stirring was more along the lines of stabbing and the pot got severely dented. "now, finally, turn up the heat!"

jack turned the fire on, cranking it all the way up in hopes of making undyne more excited, but she didn't seem pleased enough, "not hot enough, dammit! i'll do it!" she shouted and lunged forward, cranking the dial so hard that it broke off, but the flame somehow got bigger and jack backed away, knowing that this wasn't going to end well by any means and undyne seemed to gather that as well, ".....oops." she muttered before the stove let out a huge bang, undyne grabbing jack's arm and running out of the house with him, the two looking back and seeing that her house was now in flames.

"man, no wonder papyrus sucks at cooking."

jack let out sigh, turning to undyne, opening his mouth to speak but she beat him to it, "i really screwed this up, didn't i? who am i kidding, i can't force us to be friends, human. some friendships can't work."

"undyne, i--"

once again, undyne cut jack off, "but, that means i can destroy you without regret!" she cried and summoned a spear, pointing it at jack and he froze, wide eyes staring in surprise; did she really not give a damn about him and was just humoring him that whole time?

well, it wouldn't be the first time this has happened to him.

"i don't care if you're my guest anymore, human!" undyne snarled as she clutched her spear in both hands, jack getting that familiar pull at his chest as his soul appeared before him once again, "one final rematch, all out on both sides! it's the only way to regain my lost pride! now, hit me with all you've got!"

jack stammered for words, but it seemed that no matter what he said, she wasn't going to let him act his way out of this one and he took a breath, closing his eyes and he swung at undyne with all his might, punching her in the chest as hard as he could and he opened his eyes, only to see a shocked and confused expression on her face, ".....what? is that really the best you can manage?" undyne asked and jack backed away, unsure of how much damage he did but he got the feeling that it wasn't very much, "even attacking at full force....you just can't muster up any intent to hurt me, huh?"

".......i don't want to fight."

undyne scoffed, "you know what?" she muttered before letting go of her spear, it vanishing before jack's eyes, "i don't want to hurt you either. i hated your stupid saccharine schtick at first, but now.....i know you aren't just some wimpy loser; you're a wimpy loser with a big heart." the warrior smiled and jack smiled back, cradling his hand, "it seems that you and asgore are fated to fight, but knowing him, he doesn't want to fight either......talk to him, i'm sure you can persuade him to let you go home. and eventually, some awful human will fall down here and i'll talk their stupid soul instead."

undyne walked forward, putting her hand on jack's shoulder, "but, if you do hurt asgore; i'll take the human souls, cross the barrier, and beat the hell out of you."

jack laughed at that, "you won't have to do that, i promise." he smiled and undyne gave him a wide grin, "we'll have hang out again sometime before you go, but somewhere else i guess." she muttered, "in the meantime, i'll go hang with papyrus, so if you need me, drop by snowdin, okay?" she informed and jack nodded, "will do."

"alright, see ya, punk!"

undyne took off running and jack smiled as she did, more than happy that he was able to call another monster a friend.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one took awhile but i finally figured out how to write out this chapter! hope you like it!

" _it's the human! hello_!"

jack chuckled at papyrus' response, having called the skeleton (and undyne) after entering hotland because he had encountered a bit of a problem, "hey, uh, the elevators to the capital aren't working and i-i can't really go anywhere because there's a giant lab blocking the only other direction, do you know of any other way i can go?" the boy explained, hoping that papyrus or undyne would know how to help, " _that lab belongs to the brilliant doctor alphys! just walk in_!"

"papyrus, i'd be invading her home."

" _oh no, don't worry yourself, human! she won't mind at all, i do it all the time! as a matter of fact, i'm sure she'd be happy to help you! say hello to her for me and undyne_!"

"wait, pa---." jack's sentence was cut off as papyrus hung up, the blonde letting out a frustrated groan before putting his phone away, looking up at the tall white building infront of him, "......guess i have no other choice." he muttered before walking up to the door, raising his hand to knock but it slid open before he got the chance and, hesitantly, he stepped inside.

it was rather dark in the lab, a little chilly too but he suspected it was just some air conditioning so that doctor alphys could stay cool despite the extreme heat of hotland, jack's footsteps echoing beneath him as he waked along the tiled floor, the faint humming of machines meeting his ears and his eyes landed on a huge monitor that reminded him of the ones cartoon villains had in their lairs, his eyes widened as he realized that the screen was showing footage of him, a camera following him somewhere and he tried to ignore the weird feeling in his chest that the knowledge of someone watching him caused as he continued walking through the lab.

thanks to the glow from the monitor, jack could see a desk with a computer covered in sticky notes, piles of dishes and paperwork accompanying the computer and he smiled a little as it reminded him of his uncle's desk; the guy was a history teacher at a university near his house and while jack visited him rarely, the mental image of a computer desk that was messy because grading was more important than cleaning was extremely vivid in his head.

the sound of an automatic door opening and shutting echoed throughout the lab and jack jumped as the lights flickered on, locking eyes with a short yellow lizard monster in a lab coat and glasses; "oh my god!" the monster stammered and jack could see the panic on their face, "i-i didn't expect you to show up so soon! i haven't showered, i'm barely dressed, it's all messy, and-!"

they suddenly paused, taking a deep breath and giving jack a smile, "h-hiya; i'm doctor alphys, i'm asgore's royal scientist." she explained, jack opening his mouth to introduce himself too but alphys began speaking again, "b-b-but, i'm not one of the "bad guys"! actually since you stepped out of the ruins, i've been.....uh......observing your journey through my console."

"observing me?"

"it sounds really creepy but i swear its nothing like that! i-i was originally going to stop you, but watching someone on a screen really makes you root for them."

jack chuckled at that, still a little weirded out but he could tell that alphys didn't mean any harm, "my name is jack, but maybe you already knew that." he mumbled shyly and alphys smiled, "yeah, i-i did it, but it's really nice to meet you in person finally!" she beamed before walking closer and holding out a hand, jack grabbing it and shaking it, "oh, uh, papyrus says hello, so does undyne."

at the mention of undyne, alphys' cheeks flushed, "u-undyne said that? th-that's really nice of her." she mumbled before removing her hand and clearing her throat, "i-if you would like i could help guide you through hotland, i know how to get to asgore's castle from here."

"you'd help me?"

"of course, i cam guide your there no problem!......actually, there is a tiny issue."

jack raised his brow, alphys anxiously fiddling with her claws, "a long time ago, i made a robot named mettaton and originally i built to be an entertainment robot, l-like a robotic tv star or something---anyway, recently i decided to make him more than just an entertainer, just some small practical adjustments like, uh, anti....anti-human combat features." she explained at jack's widened eyes, she scrambled to continue, "of c-course, when i saw you coming i knew that i had to remove those features! u-unfortunately, i may had made a teensy mistake and, um, now he's a nearly unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood."

"oh my god."

"b-but, we may not even run into him!"

as if on cue, a loud clang sounded from the other side of the wall and jack turned his head, the sound repeating and he gulped as it clanging continued, "oh no."

jack ducked and covered his head just as a loud bang sounded, uncovering himself and seeing that the wall now had a huge hole in it with an old fashioned tv looking robot with a microphone in one of it's hands standing infront of it; "welcome beauties, to today's quiz show!" the robot, who jack assumed to be mettaton, exclaimed and bright disco lights appeared, dancing around the room and jack turned around, seeing that there was a film camera dangling from the ceiling and pointed at the three of them.

alphys did say that mettaton was meant for entertainment, but the idea of being a part of the entertainment for the entirety of the underground didn't sit too well in jack's chest.

"oh boy! i can already tell it's gonna be a great show!"

mettaton wheeled over to jack, putting a mechanic arm over the boy's shoulders, "what's your name, darling?" he asked before pointing the microphone at him, "j-jack." he stammered, "what a wonderful name! everyone give a big hand for our wonderful contestant!" mettaton beamed before wheeling away, jack looking over to alphys who looked as anxious as ever, "the game is simple, gorgeous! there's just one rule; answer correctly.....or you die!"

the colored tiles on mettaton's face flashed red and jack gulped, trying to figure a way out of this but how couldn't battle a robot and win, could he?

mettaton pulled out a stack of flashcards from a compartment in his chest, wheeling over to alphys and the camera moved to get a better look at him, jack's soul being tugged at and he looked down, seeing that usual options of "FIGHT" and "MERCY" were now replaced with the letters A, B, C, and D.

"let's start with an easy one!" mettaton beamed, "what's the prize for answering correctly?" he questioned and jack looked down at his options, trying to figure out which to pick and alphys loudly cleared her throat to get his attention, the boy looking up and seeing that she was using her hands to form the letter D, so that's what he chose and confetti rained, "excellent! it sounds like you get it!"

jack let out a relieved sigh, most of the anxiety for this quiz show leaving him and he looked to alphys, giving her a grateful smile and she smiled back, "here's your terrific prize!"

"what's the king's full name?" : A (asgore dreemurr)

"what are robot's made of?" : B (metal and magic)

"two trains, train a and train b, simultaneously depart station a and station b. station a and station b are 252.5 miles apart from each other, train a is moving at 124.7 mph towards station b and train b is moving 253.5 mph towards station a. if both trains departed at 10 am and it is now 10 pm, how much longer until both trains pass each?"

in his scramble to press the right answer, jack accidentally hit C and he screamed as mettaton send a shock of electricity at his soul, a burning pain coursing through the boy's veins and alphys gasped, but he tried to give her a reassuring smile; "wrong! wrong! wrong! c'mon, darling, don't let me catch you slipping!" the robot tsked and jack smiled, "it won't happen again."

"ha! don't count on your victory!"

"how many flies are in this jar?" : A (54)

"what monster is this?" : D (mettaton (in a froggit shirt))

"would you smooch a ghost?" mettaton asked with a certain tone to his voice that made jack furrow his brows, looking down at his options and only seeing "hell yes" for every option, pressing one and he looked to alphys, who just shook her head, "in the dating simulation video game, "mew mew kissy cutie", what is mew mew's favorite food?"

before jack even got the chance to answer, alphys raised her hand and began answering for him: "oh! oh! i know this one! it's snail ice cream! in the fourth chapter everyone goes to the beach and she buys ice cream for all her friends, but its snail flavor and she's the only one who wants it! its one of my favorite parts of the game because its actually a very poweful message about friendship and......" she rambled, trailing off as mettaton tsked, "alphys, alphys, alphys. you aren't helping our contestant are you?"

"n-no! of course not!"

"ooooh, you should have told me! i'll ask a question that you're sure to know the answer to; who does doctor alphys have a crush on?"

jack looked down at his options, having an idea of which one to press and he looked at alphys, anxiously sweating and her hands shaking a little, the boy mouthing "i'm sorry" to her before touching the option that said "undyne", to which confetti fell and alphys covered her flushed face in embarrassment; "see, alphys? i told you it was obvious, even the human figured it out." mettaton chuckled and jack couldn't help but feel guilty as alphys seemed to want to crawl into a hole and hide, "she scrawls undyne's name in the margins of her notes, she names programmimg variables after her, she even writes stories of them together, sharing a domestic life, probability of crush; 101 percent!"

mettaton wheeled away from the two, jack's soul disappearing along with his letter options, "well, with doctor alphys helping you, the show has no dramtic tension! we can't go on like this! but, this was just the pilot episode! next up; more drama! more romance! more bloodshed! until next time, darlings!" he exclaimed and with that, mettaton's arms and wheel folded in and he rocketed off, creating a hole in the ceiling and the camera and lights went away.

"w-well, that was certainly something."

"i'm sorry for embarrassing you like that." jack muttered, "oh, uh, it's alright. undyne doesn't watch the show very often, so she probably didn't see it." the scientist replied and jack smiled, "i should probably get going." he mumbled and beginning to walk towsrds the exit, "w-wait! let me give you my phone number so that i can help you if you need it."

jack pulled out his phone, handing it to alphys and her eyes widened, "where'd you get that phone? it's ancient! it doesn't even have texting---hold on a second, please!"

after she took his phone, alphys rushed to her desk and pulled out a touchscreen phone from her drawer, connecting both devices to her computer and tapping at the keyboard for awhile before she unplugged the touchscreen and went back to the boy, handing it to him; "here, i upgraded it for you! it has your old stuff, but it can do texting, items, and it's got a little key chain on the back." she explained and jack turned it over, seeing a silver keychain attached to the case that was protecting the device, the phone case colored pink and decorated with small drawings of bees, the accessories making the boy smile, "i also signed you up for the underground's social network; undernet! n-now we're officially friends!"

"thank you, alphys."

"no problem! i'll be right here if you need anything!" she beamed and jack smiled, waving before leaving her lab.

  
**•◇•**

  
jack leaned against a brick wall, sliding down it and plopping down onto the dirty ground with a heavy sigh; he needed a break.

a few too many encounters with a money-hungry spider that loved baking, blue and orange lasers that alphys had to guide him through, and video cameras filming him doing mind numbing puzzles and games that a robot forced him to do for the entertainment of those in the underground.

the boy was so tired and sort of wished he never left the ruins, wanting to lay back down in that comforting bed and being able to wake up to the smell of cinnamon and butterscotch pie, but he couldn't dwell on that because he was so close to the end of his journey and regretting now would be pointless.

"jeez, you alright, kid?"

jack looked up at the familiar voice, seeing sans standing over him, "y'seem a little stressed." the skeleton muttered and the blonde shrugged, "more than a little." he mumbled as he stood back up, brushing the dirt off his pants, "how 'bout we grab a bite? you could use the break and the grub, i'm sure."

"i don't have any money."

"no worries, my treat." sans smiled and put a hand on jack's shoulder, "c'mon, i know a shortcut."

  
**•••**

  
"so, your journey's almost over, huh?"

jack looked up from his sword-shaped sandwhich, "you must really wanna go home." sans added and jack put his sandwhich done, swallowing the food in his mouth before speaking, "yeah, kinda." he mumbled, "hey, i know the feeling, buddo. though....maybe it's better to take what's given to you? i mean, down here you've already got food, drink, friends......is what you have to do really worth it?"

"i....i don't really know."

"then why are you still trying?"

"i mean, i hiked the mountain for a reason and it was to get to the other side because i know there are people who care for me over there, but then i fell and.....there are people who care for me down here and while i care for them too its just......maybe if i keep going i can i do more than just cross the barrier."

"are you gonna break it?"

"maybe? i dunno, i don't wanna just leave and have all these people that i've met and bonded with to just.....stay here and wait even more. i'm here now and i can try, ya know?"

sans chuckled a little, looking down at the table, "whatever happens, i'm rooting for ya, kid." he smiled and jack smiled too, going back to his sandwhich, "can i tell you a story?" the skeleton questioned and jack nodded, "so, ya know how i'm a sentry in snowdin forest? just sit out there and watch for humans? it's pretty boring, but fortunately there's this huge locked door deep in the forest that is perfect for practicing knock-knock jokes. so, one day, i'm knocking them out, like usual, i knock on the door and say "knock knock" and then suddenly, from the other side, i hear a woman's voice; "who's there?"."

jack froze, knowing exactly who sans was talking about but he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to interrupt, "so, naturally, i respond; "dishes.", "dishes who?", "dishes a very bad joke", and then she just howls with laughter like it's the best joke she's heard in a hundred years. so i keep 'em coming, and she keeps laughing, she's the best audience i've ever had. but then, after a dozen of them, _she_ knocks and says; "knock knock". and, of course, i say; "who's there?", "old lady.", "old lady who?", "oh, i did not know you could yodel"."

jack couldn't hold back his laughter, nearly choking on his food as he barked out a laugh, the skeleton chuckling at the boy's reaction, "heh, she's really good, right? we kept telling each other jokes for hours, but eventually i had to leave and she told me to come by again, so i did, again and again; it's a thing now, telling bad jokes through the door, it rules." he smiled but jack saw his expression fall and he got a bad feeling, "one day, though, i noticed she wasn't laughing very much, so i asked her what was up and then she told me something strange; "if a human ever comes through this door, could you please promise me something? watch over them and protect them, will you not?". now, i hate making promises, and i don't even know this woman's name, but someone who sincerely likes bad jokes has an integrity you can't say no to."

"is that why you're so nice to me? because someone told you to be?"

sans shrugged at jack's comment, "at first, but not anymore." he muttered and the blonde looked down at his empty plate, "hey, lighten up, bucko." sans added and jack looked up, "you've done great so far, alright? and i bet you'll only do better from here on out."

"really?"

"you got undyne to be your friend, you can do anything." 

jack chuckled and sans stood up, walking over to the kid and patting him on the shoulder, "take care of yourself, kid, 'cause someone really cares about you." he muttered before walking away and jack stared down at the table, smiling to himself.

  
**•◇•**

  
"oh, there you are, darling!" mettaton beamed as jack entered the room, said room feeling way too dark as the blue lights on the floor were the only way the boy could see right now as he walked towards the robot, "it's time to have our little showdown! it's time to finally stop the malfunctioning robot!......not! malfunctioning? reprogramming? get real!"

"you're.....you're not malfunctioning? then why--"

"it was all just a big show, of course! alphys has been playing you for a fool the whole time! as she watched you on the screen, she grew attached to your adventure, she desperately wanted to be a part of it. so, she decided to insert herself into your story; reactivating puzzles, disabling elevators, enlisting me to torment you. all so she could save you from dangers that didn't exist. all so that you would think she's the great person that she's not! and now, it's time for her finest hour."

jack's heart dropped, eyes widening at mettaton's words; alphys set this all up? she put him through all this so that she could be a part of his journey? was she really a bad person that just wanted to pretend that she wasn't? there's no way, her friends speak so highly of her! did she make them believe that through an act?

"at this very moment, alphys is waiting outside this room so that during our "battle" she can interrupt and pretend to deactivate me, saving you one final time. finally, she'd be the heroine of your adventure. you'd regard her so highly that maybe she'll even be able to convince you not to leave." mettaton explained, jack wanted to just walk past him and go to alphys, confront her and ask why figured that mettaton wouldn't allow him, "you see, i've had enough of this predictable charade. i have no desire to harm humans, far from it actually, my only desire is to entertain. after all, the audience deserves a good show, don't they? and what's a good show without a plot twist?"

there was a loud clang as the doors behind and infront of jack slammed shut and locked, frantic knocking on the door behind metatton echoing through the room, "h-hey!! what's going on?! th-the door just locked itself!" alphys called through the door and the floor beneath jack lit up in a bright red, a spotlight shining on mettaton as several cameras turned on and pointed their way, "sorry folks! the old program's been cancelled! but, we've got a finale that will drive you wild!" 

the floor began elevating and jack gasped, jumping away from the edge as railings appeared so that neither of them would fall off as it continued to rise and rise before stopping at a good ten feet in the air, "real drama! real action! real bloodshed! on our new show; "attack of the killer robot!"." metatton exclaimed and music began to play around them, jack's soul being tugged at before it appeared, "i was the one that rearranged the core! i was the one that hired everyone to attack you! that, however, was a short-sighted plan. you know what would be a hundred times better?! killing you myself!"

"i won't let you."

metatton laughed, "you think you have a choice, how cute. besides, i've seen you fight and you're weak! if you continue, asgore will surely take your soul and he will destroy humanity. but! if i get your soul, then i can stop asgore's plan and save humanity from destruction. i'll cross the barrier myself and become the star i've always dreamed of being! hundreds, thousands, millions of humans will watch me! so what if a few people have to die, that's show business baby!"

"that's not-!"

jack's shout stopped as his phone rang in his pocket, pulling out it on answering it, " _i-i can't see what's going on in there, b-but don't give up, okay?! th-there's one last way to beat m-mettaton_." alphys stammered through the phone, " _it's a work in progress don't judge it too hard, but you know how mettaton always face f-forward? there's a switch on his back, so if you can turn him around and press the switch, i-it'll make him vu-vulnerable_." she explained before hanging up and jack put his phone away, looking back up at mettaton and trying to think of a way to get the robot to turn around.

"hey, mettaton, there's a, uh, mirror behind you."

"oh?! right, right, i have to look perfect for our grand finale!"

to jack's surprise, the robot actually turned around he saw a large red switch and he rushed forward, pressing it and backing away immediately, not sure what was going to happen, "did you. just flip. my switch?" mettaton asked as he turned around, "m-maybe?" the boy shrugged and the light panels on mettaton's face flashed several different colors, the dials on his stomach spinning like crazy and jack covered his face as a bright pink light shined from mettaton, hoping he didn't do something extremely stupid.

"oooooooh my, if you flipped my switch that can only mean one thing."

jack removed his hands from his face at mettaton's voice, unable to see the robot as smoke from either mettaton or a smoke machine clouded his vision, "you're desperate for the premiere of my new body." mettaton spoke and as the smoke cleared, jack began to see a silhouette of what he assumed was the robot'a new body, "how rude....lucky for you, i've been aching to show this off for a long time. so, as thanks, i'll give you a handsome reward......i'll make your last living moments--"

lights flashed in jack's eyes and after blinking a few times, he saw mettaton's new body and he froze, this was _definitely_ a "new body"; pink high heel boots, a tank as his torso that contained a glowing pink heart, dials and gauges pink and black on his chest, not to mention that he had a face now with a wide smile and bright pink eyes that were decorated with beautifully done makeup and surrounded by black fringe.

"--absolutely beautiful!"

if people were attracted to mettaton before, jack couldn't even begin to imagine what they thought of him now.

"a fight is only fun if it's fair, and this doesn't feel too fair, does it, darling?" mettaton asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head, "uh.....no?" jack responded, unsure how to answer and the robot just smirked, "i can fix that easily, hold still sweetheart." he smiled as he pointed a hand at jack's soul, the boy letting out a choked gasp as he could feel mettaton's magic squeezing his soul, watching in shock as the red heart faded to yellow and a warm, almost electrical feeling coursed through jack's veins, his irises glowing a an almost blindingly bright golden color.

"humans don't have their own magic but nobody said we couldn't lend them some."

before jack could say a word, mettaton clapped his hands together and struck a dramatic pose, two bright spotlights along with several disco lights lit up the room, cameras recording and moving around to get as many flattering angles as possible, "lights! camera! action!" mettaton beamed and the glass tank that was his torso opened, the pink heart floating out and stopping in front of mettaton, "you've shown me your heart, its only fair that i return the gesture, don't you think?"

jack stammered, at a loss for words and he looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers and clenching his fists, a golden light flashing as he did so before fading away, "think fast, darling!"

looking up, jack saw several pink colored bombs appear in front of mettaton and he sent them flying towards jack, the boy throwing his hands up in defense and two large blasts of energy came shooting out of his palms, causing all the bombs to go off but stop him from getting hurt, his eyes widening and jaw dropping, the smoke clearing and allowing him to see mettaton's impressed smile, "we got the practice out of the way, now its time for the _real_ action!"

"oh god."

with a wave of his hand, mettaton sent an electric shock at jack, who just simply dodged it and kept running from the zaps as more and more went in his direction, the boy covering his head in fear of being hurt and mettaton let out a frustrated cry, "don't run like a coward! i gave you magic, so use it and give my viewers the battle they tuned in for!" he. screamed before sending two giant bolts of pink lightning at jack from his palms and jack threw his arms out too, watching in awe as golden lightning shot from his hands and clashed into the robot's, electricity crackling before smoke too the bolts' places. "that's more like it! give me your best shot!"

"i don't want to hurt you!"

"oh, please, i gave you magic but you're still a weakling. you won't even leave a scratch, i bet."

mettaton's soul glowed even brighter, small bolts of lighting shooting out of it and jack used his borrowed magic to stop them from hitting him, some of his blasts hitting the glowing pink soul but the robot kept a smirk on his face as jack fought, not daring to show his pain as he sent more bolts jack's way, landing a couple hits but nothing compared to the damage the human was doing.

jack froze as the color in mettaton's eyes left, going completely white, and a small booming sound echoed the room, some steam coming from the robot's chest as his system worked extra hard to keep him going, "nice work sweetheart, but i'm just warming up!" he mocked and he stomped his foot, making the ground shake and jack slipped, falling the ground but scrambling to get out of the as he saw pink spikes begin to shoot up out of the ground, barely dodging the attack and he sent a blast to them, making them break crumble to the ground so that he could get back up safely, hesitantly sending a blast to mettaton's soul as well, figuring that if maybe he did a little bit of damage then he could get the robot to give up and let himself he spared.

"can you keep up the pace?"

posing dramatically, mettaton sent several bombs jack's way, the explosives coming from all different directions and the boy did his best to dodge their blasts as he used magic to set them off, getting hit a couple times but not being too hurt, only for mettaton to continue sending more and more bombs his way while posing for the camera, "i'm the idol everyone craves, its only reasonable for me to get to the surface and show humanity what a real star looks like!"

"i'm not sure that's the best idea." 

mettaton scoffed at jack's response, a circle of bolts appearing around his soul, "it doesn't have to be the best idea, just a good one." he smiled before dozens bolts went flying towards jack, the boy reacting as fast as possible but he couldn't get rid of every shock, getting hit a handful of times but he wasn't the only one taking damage and he could see that, so he stayed determined and kept firing blast after blast, hoping that this fight could end soon.

another small booming sound echoed the room, jack gasping as mettaton's metal arms fell to the floor with a clang, exposing wires and steam coming from the holes, "wh-who needs arms with legs like these?! i'm not giving up just yet, gorgeous! after all, the show _must_ go on!"

every part of jack was telling him that it really didn't have to go on, but it was also telling him that mettaton was too damn stubborn to stand down, so he had no choice but to keep fighting.

blocking bombs, dodging sparks, shooting bolts; jack did it all and he did his best to keep doing so, the pain getting to him but there was no turning back now and mettaton's attacks weren't faltering, which meant his couldn't either. 

"argh! enough of this! do you really want humanity to perish or do you really believe in yourself that much?!"

jack didn't answer, not having one anyways, and mettaton laughed, "well, darling, its either me or you! but, i think we both already know who's going to win! witness the true power of humanity's star!"

bombs and bolts surrounded mettaton's soul before rocketing towards jack, magic blasts shooting out of his palms and getting rid of a good amount of the attacks, but of course they weren't all taken care of and damage was done, but mettaton's soul wasn't completely safe either, the obvious struggle that the mechanics inside of his metal body began to get louder and louder before another boom sounded and his legs gave out from beneath him, falling off their joints and leaving just a robotic middle and head.

jack froze, the golden light in his eyes fading away as he stared at mettaton in shock, fearing that he had done irreversible damage to the robot and he rushed forward, not caring that they were supposed to be battling, he didn't want to hurt anyone!

mettaton's frightened expression left, changing into a prideful one as he looked to his right, seeing exactly how many viewers were tuning in and a wide smile came across his face, "oh my! look at these ratings! this is the most viewers i've ever had!" he beamed, surprising jack because shouldn't he be freaking out right now? his body was in literal pieces! "we've reached the viewer call-in milestone! one lucky viewer will have the chance to talk to me before i leave the underground forever! let's see who calls in first!"

a hole appeared in the floor and a cell phone rised from it, it immediately ringing and being answered, "hello! you're on tv! what do you have to say on our last show?!" mettaton beamed as jack sat down on the floor, remaining silent. 

" _.....oh.....hi, mettaton....._ "

jack's eyes widened, immediately recognizing that voice and by the look on mettaton's face, he recognized it too, " _i really liked watching your show.....my life is pretty boring.....but....seeing you on the screen....brought excitement to my life.....vicariously.....i can't tell, but....i guess this is the last episode?..... i'll miss you....mettaton......oh.....i didn't mean to talk so long.......oh....._ "

"no! wait! wait, bl--....h---they already hung up." mettaton sighed, very upset, "i-i'll take another caller!" he tried, but every time he took another call, none of them match the voice of the first caller and jack's heart sank, knowing that there was a piece of the story that he was missing but he didn't care, there was a connection between the two and mettaton wanted to revive it, "i....i see.....everyone; thank you so much, you've been a great audience."

with a sad smile, mettaton looked up at jack, "darling, perhaps.....it might be better if i stay here for awhile. humans already have stars and idols, but monsters, they only have me. if i left, the underground would lose its spark, i'd leave an aching void that could never be filled. so, i think i'll have to delay my big debut." he explained and jack gave him a small smile, "besides, you've proven to be very strong. perhaps, even strong enough to get past asgore. i'm sure you'll be able to protect humanity, it's all for the best, anyway......the truth is, this form's energy consumption is rather inefficient, in a few moments; i'll run out of battery power and....well, i'll be alright." 

without hesitation, jack leaned forward and hugged mettaton's body, knowing that there weren't arms to hug him back but he didn't care, wanting to give affection instead of receive it; "you're the best star i've ever seen perform." he mumbled and mettaton let out a chuckle, "knock 'em dead, darling." he cooed and jack heard the mechanical noise that mettaton was emitting skowly die down, pulling away and seeing the bright glow from his eyes was now gone and the only thing shining was his pink soul that was now back inside it's tank.

jack looked up at the sound of a door opening, seeing alphys enter the room, "i-i managed to open the lock! are you two---oh my god."

the scientist rushed forward and bent down next to jack, quickly giving mettaton a look over and she let out a relieved sigh, "thank god, it's just the batteries, nothing i can't fix."

"i'm sorry.....i-i didn't mean to hurt him."

alphys gave jack a smile, "i know you didn't and so does he, he'll be alright, just some recharging and reattaching." she cooed and the boy gave her a nervous smile, "why don't you go on ahead, jack?" she added and jack looked to mettaton's powerless form before standing up, hesitantly walking towards the exit and entering a long hallway that he could see an elevator at the end of.

the elevator to asgore.

with a deep breath, jack walked towards it, getting only halfway before he heard footsteps and he stopped, turning around and seeing alphys catching up to him, "s-sorry! le-let's just keep going." she smiled nervously and jack began walking again, alphys by his side, "so, you're about t-to meet asgore, huh?"

"i think so..."

"y-you must be pr-pretty excited about it, right? i-i mean you get to go home."

jack crossed his arms over his chest as it filled with anxiety, "y-yeah, i do....but i'm not excited really, more nervous i'd say." he mumbled as they approached the elevator, pressing a kinda shaky hand to the button on the wall and the doors immediately opened, looking back to alphys before he began to step inside, "w-wait!" 

at the scientist's cry, jack paused and turned to her, "i-i just wanted to sa-say goodbye, ya know?........oh, i can't take this anymore." alphys muttered and she gave jack a sad look, "a human soul isn't strong enough to cross the barrier alone, it takes a least a human soul _and_ a monster soul."

"s-so, if i want to go home..."

"you'll have to kill asgore."


	5. Chapter 5

jack slowly walked into the throne room, grass rustling beneath his feet and hands shaking as his eyes landed on the purple cape-covered back of a tall goat man, crown sat atop his head between his long white horns, gently humming to himself as he water the golden flowers surrounding his throne.

he had finally made it to asgore and he couldn't be more terrified. 

"oh? is someone there?" the king called as the sounds of jack's footsteps met his ears, "just a moment! i've almost finished watering these flowers." he cooed and the boy waited, anxiously fidgeting with his hands as asgore finished watering the flowers, setting the watering can down by his throne before wiping the dirt from his hands and turning around, a bright smile on his face, "howdy! how can i--" he started, but stopped himself as he realized that jack wasn't just another monster, his smile faltering for a moment before it become a sad smile instead.

"i so badly want to say; "would you like a cup of tea?"."

"and i so badly want to answer; "i would love one"." jack answered with a nervous smile and asgore's sighed sadly, walking over to the window, "nice day today, huh? birds are singing, flowers are blooming; perfect weather for a game of catch." he mumbled and jack hesitantly walked over to the window, looking outside for himself and seeing that it really was a nice day, birds happily fluttering around and bees pollinating multicolored flowers that were in the vast garden outside of the king's window; it reminded jack of his uncle's garden, actually.

asgore turned to jack, "....you know what we must do. when you are ready, please come into the next room."

jack watched as the king made his way into the other room, the boy looking back outside once more and taking a deep breath before following, but stopping as he noticed another throne in the corner of the room, the sheet it was covered by collecting dust and he walked over to it, pulling the sheet away just a tad and seeing that the throne matched asgore's except it was just a little smaller and was meant for a queen.

did this belong to who he thinked it belong to?

shaking the thought out of his head, jack made his way into the room asgore disappeared into, the anxiety immediately heightening in his chest as he entered the colorless room and he looked to asgore, who was giving him a sad smile, "are you ready? if you are not, i understand. i am not ready either." the king sighed before he walked forward through a small arched exit, jack hesitantly following him and his eyes widened as he saw what this room contained.

the room was completely white with a large black hole at the end of it, energy visibly pulsing from and towards the hole as whatever magic it was made of was more powerful than any magic jack could ever even fathom.

"this is the barrier, this is what keeps us all trapped underground." asgore explained, jack looking up at him, "if....if chance you have any unfinished business.....please do what you must." he added before looking to the boy, giving him a kind smile and jack looked down after a moment, thinking back to everything he's done in the underground.

should he go retrace his steps? check to see that mettaton is truly okay? have one last burger with sans? show undyne and papyrus how to actually cook spaghetti? just......say goodbye?

"i.....i think i do. if you don't mind me--"

"take all the time you need, child. do what you feel you must."

jack gave asgore a thankful smile before leaving the room, breaking out into a run for no other reason than his brain said it was the smarter way to travel as he rushed towards the elevator that brought him to the castle, pressing the button and going inside, going down to the lowest floor available, which happened to be a couple rooms before fighting mettaton, pacing the small square as it moved down and he walked out once the doors opened, going inside and through the MTT resort and as he exited, his phone rang loudly in his pocket, making him jump in shock and he fumbled to answer it.

"h-hello?"

" _hey! uh, this is undyne--shut up, papyrus, this was your idea_!" undyne spoke through the phone, the boy able to barely make out the skeleton's voice in the background, " _human! you have to deliver something for me! uh, please_?" she rambled and jack chuckled, "i guess i could if you need me to."

" _awesome! i'm at papyrus' place in snowdin! see ya, punk!_ "

with that said, undyne hung up and jack looked at his phone screen for a moment with a faint smile; guess he was going to snowdin.

  
**•◇•**

  
snow crunched beneath jack's feet as he walked towards papyrus' and sans' house, seeing undyne standing outside the cabin-like home with an envelope in her hands, wearing a rather thick winter coat because the constant chill in snowdin wasn't something her body was built for, "hello!" jack called as he approached and the warrior turned her head at his voice, smiling as she saw him, waving back at him, "hey, punk! i, uh, have a small favor to ask you."

"you needed me to deliver something?"

"yeah, uh, this." she stammered, handing jack a blank and sealed envelope, "i need you to deliver that letter to alphys."

"no problem, but uh.....wouldn't you want to do this yourself?"

undyne paused, getting a little flustered, "well, i-its honestly because....." she trailed off, seeming to search for the right words, "hotland suuuuucks! i don't wanna have to go over there!" she groaned loudly and jack laughed, not expecting that answer, "fair enough, i'll take it to alphys." 

"thanks, punk! by the way, if you read that letter, i'll kill you, got it?" 

"got it."

  
**•••**

  
jack walked up to alphys' laboratory door,kneeling down and sliding the letter under the door as there was no mail slot, standing back up and knocking so that alphys would look at the letter now, hearing her footsteps on the other side and he turned around toeave, walking a few feet before he heard the door opened and he stopped, turning and seeing a blushing alphys with the letter in her hand, "i-is this a joke?"

"what? no, why would it be?"

"oh my god, _you_ wrote this letter?"

jack opened his mouth to object, but alphys was already speaking again, "oh my god, oh no, that's adorable. i-i had no idea you felt that way, even after all the stuff i did." she rambled and jack was starting to realize what undyne had wrote in that letter, "you know what? i'll do it! let's go on a date!"

"alphys--"

"i'll be right back!"

jack watched in horror as alphys rushed into her lab, putting his head in his hands and letting out a heavy sigh; oh dear god what had he done?

  
**•••**

  
everything was a disaster.

the awkwardness of this date that jack shouldn't even be on was so intense that you could probably see it, but alphys was really trying to make it not so awkward and that made jack feel even worse because this date wasn't meant for him! it was meant for undyne and he messed up this thing that obviously was really important to undyne and he just wanted to scream until his screaming alone made the barrier break open.

but, jack couldn't, so he just had to sit with alphys in the waterfall garbage dump as he gathered up the courage to tell her who really wrote that letter.

"undyne and i come here all the time, we find all sorts of great stuff here." alphys muttered as she fiddled with a loose string on her dress, "heh, she's really......" the scientist trailed off and jack sighed, "alphys, i have--"

"oh no!"

jack jumped at her gasp, turning his head and seeing undyne walking towards the dump, looking rather dressed up and he figured that she dressed that way for alphys, "i-i can't let her see me on a date with you! oh no, oh no!" alphys rushed out before ducking behind a large pile of trash so that undyne couldn't see her, "hey! there you are!" undyne announced once she saw jack and she rushed over to him, "i, uh, realized that if you deliver that thing, it might be a bad idea, so i'm gonna do it!"

if only she realized that sooner.

"give it to me!"

"i-i don't have it anymore." jack responded and undyne clenched her jaw, frustrated, "agh! have you at least seen her?!" she asked and jack didn't want to lie so he nodded, "aha! so she's somewhere around here! thanks, i'll keep looking!" undyne exclaimed before running off, jack turning around to the pile of junk that alphys was behind and the scientist hesitantly walked out from hiding, "i-i guess its pretty obvious, huh? i.....i really like her. i-i'm sorry, i just figured it'd be nice to go on, like, a pretend date with you.....t-to make you feel better? oh, it sounds even worse when i put it like that."

"alphys, i didn't write that letter."

"yo-you didn't?"

"didn't you hear undyne? she wanted me to deliver it and i did, but now we ended up here and everything's messy."

alphys out her head in her hands, "oh my god, i'm so sorry! this must be so awkward for you!" she cried and jack gave her a patient smile, "alphys, its okay, really. you were trying to make me feel better about something even though it wasn't really what was happening." he cooed and she sighed, "i just.....i really like her and she's so confident and strong and funny.......and i'm just a nobody, a fraud. i'm the royal scientist, but all i've ever done is hurt people."

"alphys, that can't be true. you've helped me so much."

"i only helped you through lies that i set up. i've lied to everyone, including undyne and she thinks i'm so much cooler than i actually am. if she gets close to me, she'll find out the truth and.......nothing good will come from that."

jack frowned, "nothing good will come out of you continuing to lie either, you'll just feel worse and undyne will too because she cares about you and likes you and she _wants_ to be close to you."

alphys looked up at jack, "it would be so terrible, she'd hate me. isn't it better to live a lie where both people are happy instead of a truth where neither of us are?"

"are you actually happy with telling her all these lies?"

"........no, you're right. but, how could i tell her the truth? i-i don't have the confidence, how could i practice?"

jack paused, thinking for a moment before he got an idea, "pretend i'm undyne." he smiled and alphys gave him a confused look, "you need to practice how you'd tell her, right? well, practice with me." he explained and alphys thought about it, "okay, that could work." she smiled before clearing her throat, "h-hi un-undyne, how are you doing today?" 

"i'm okay, what about you?"

"i-i'm okay, listen there's uh....something i've been wanting to tell you for a-awhile."

"what is it?"

"um.....we-well you see, i-i haven't been exactly truthful wi-with you." alphys stammered, her cheeks an incredibly deep shade of red, "i.....uh.....oh forget it! undyne! i want to tell you how i feel!" she suddenly exclaimed and while surprised, jack did nothing to stop her, "you're so brave and so s-strong and so nice, you always listen to me when i talk about n-nerdy stuff, you always do your best to make me f-feel special, l-like telling me that you'll beat uo anyone that g-gets in my way.......UNDYNE! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANY LONGER! I'M MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU!"

jack opened his mouth to speak, but froze as he heard a very familiar voice speak from behind him; " _what_ did you just say?" undyne asked, having heard alphys' exclamation and jack moved out of the way, not wanting to get in between them as alphys stammered for an answer, "woah! your outfit's really cute! what's the occasion?.....wait a second, are you two....on a date?"

"uhhhh yes! i mean, no! i mean we were, but i mean we were just romantically roleplaying as you!"

"what??"

jack slapped a hand to his face at alphys' reply, scrunching his face up in a cringe and he hung his head, hoping that things didn't snowball from here; "i-i mean!......undyne, i-i've been lying to you." alphys sighed, "what?! about what?!" undyne pressed, sounding frustrated as hell, "about, well, everything! i told you that seaweed was scientifically important, but really i just use it to make ice cream! and those human history books i keep reading are just dorky comic books! and the history movies are just anime! they aren't even real! and that time i told you i was busy with work on the phone, i was really just eating forzen yogurt in my pajamas! and that time i--"

"alphys." undyne interjected as she walked closer to alphys, tone completely calmed down, "i.....i just wanted to impress you. i just wanted you to think that i was smart and cool, that i wasn't some.....nerdy loser." alphys sighed and undyne gave her a soft smile, putting a hand on her head and petting her, "i just.....i just really think you're neat, okay?" the scientist muttered and undyne bent down, hugging her and rubbing her back, "alphys, i think you're really neat too."

"re-really?"

undyne stood back up with a smile, "but, you've gotta realize that most of what you said doesn't really matter to me. i don't care if you're watching kid cartoons or reading history books. to me, all of that stuff is just nerdy crap! what i like about you is that you're passionate! you're analytical! it doesn't matter what it is, you care about it! one hundred percent at maximum power!" she beamed, a wide smile on her face and her fists clenched, "so, you don't have to lie to me. i don't want you to have to lie to anyone anymore. i want to help you become happy with who you are! and, i know just the training you need to do that!"

alphys looked up at undyne with wide eyes, "y-you're gonna train me?"

"what? me? nah, i'm gonma get papyrus to do it."

"get those bones shaking!" papyrus exclaimed as he appeared from seemingly nowhere, wearing workout clothing, "its time to job 100 laps! hooting about how great we are!" he beamed and alphys went pale, jack biting back any comments he had, "are you ready? i'm about to start the timer." undyne smiled and alphys stammered, "u-undyne......i'll do my best!"

with that said, alphys and papyrus left and undyne's eyes went wide as she turned to jack, "oh my god!" she exclaimed and she tightly grabbed him by the shoulders, "she was kidding, right?! those cartoons! those comic books! those are still real, right?! anime is real, right?!"

"uh......yes."

undyne let out a joyful laugh, "i knew it! gigantic swords! magical princesses! here i come!" she beamed and started to leave, but stopped and turned back to the boy, "thanks for taking care of alphys, by the way. i didn't get to say what i wanted to, but......things seem like they're going to get better for her. i gotta go catch up with them, see ya, punk!"

jack waved goodbye as undyne ran off to catch up papyrus and alphys, smiling to himself.

  
**•◇•**

  
jack entered alphys' lab, having received a call from papyrus where the skeleton urged him to go visit the scientist, a lot of worry in his tone so the boy did as he was pushed to do; "alphys?! you here?!" he called through the seemingly empty lab, his voice echoing back to him and he stopped walking as a piece of paper crinkled beneath his foot, looking down and seeing a scribbled note, bending over and picking it up to read.

" _hey, thanks for your help back there. your support really means a lot to me, but as difficult as it is to say this, you guys alone can't magically make my own problems go away. i want to be a better person. i don't want to be afraid anymore. and for that to happen, i have to be able to face my own mistakes, i'm going to start doing that now. i want to be clear; this isn't anyone else's problem but mine, but if you don't ever hear from me again and if you want to know "the truth", enter the door to the north of this note. you at least deserve to know what i've done._ "

jack turned to his left, seeing that an elevator door was wide open and he placed the note down, walking into the elevator and pressing the basement button, the doors closing and the lift going down for a second before it stopped abruptly, the lights in the elevator flashing red before it began to drop again, shaking and the alarm blaring, jack covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut, waiting for it all to stop.

a loud clang sounded before everything stopped and went quiet, the boy opening his eyes and the elevator doors opening with him, dim light pouring into the dark elevator and jack slowly stepped out of the lift, looking around the green tiled floors and green painted walls as he walked, cracks on said walls and the tiles stained, monitors hung up on the walls that lit up when he passed, journal entries on them that were about an experiment involving dying monsters and the human soul's determination.

what the hell happened down here?

  
**•••**

  
jack walked into one of the rooms in the seemingly abandoned laboratory, a large table against one of the right wall covered in potted golden flowers whilst the wall to his left was mostly a bunch mirrors with the occasional monitor in between them, the boy making his way through the room when a shrill bird like screech met his ears and he froze, hearing rather wet sounding footsteps and he slowly turned around, trying not to gasp at the monster he saw.

it looked like a bird, but wrong. its head looked more like its own seperate being, its wings frail and littered with holes with horns on the ends of them, its legs extremely thin and his feet were more just like puddles, a trail of multicolored goo following it as the unknown substance dripped from its body.

"hel-hello, i'm jack." the boy tried, the bird-like creature slowly moving forward, its head twitching and what he previously thought was an eye on the side of its head opened and closed to show sharp tooth-filled mouth, "um, do you have a name?" he tried once again and the bird stopped walking, so jack hesitantly took a step forward but that only made it shriek in fear, it standing tall and spreading its wings out in defense, sending drops of red and green goo flying everywhere and thorns shot from it's wings, jack barely dodging the attack.

"i'm not gonna hurt you. alphys told me to come here, everything's okay."

the monster let out a garbled sound, its beak moving like it was trying to speak but all jack heard was mushed up gibberish, "i can't understand you, i'm sorry." he cooed, moving closer and the bird stood tall, defensive but not attacking, "can you tell me your name?"

at jack's request, the monster spoke again, only gibberish coming out before it paused, cracking it's neck and making choked sounds that honestly made jack's stomach turn uneasily, but it seemed to help as it began speaking clearly; "reaper bird! everyone says that! a new name!" it shrieked, each sentence a different voice, but at least jack got information out of it, "okay, reaper bird, uh......do you mind if keep looking around?"

it started off with gibberish, cracking its neck once again before speaking, "go ahead! be safe! don't cause trouble!"

jack gave reaper bird a kind smile, "thank you, i'll be careful." he cooed and reaper bird gave another squawk before walking away, the boy waiting for it to leave before he exited the room himself.

  
**•••**

  
" _dt extraction machine. status : inactive_."

jack looked up from the plaque on the wall to the giant machine that hung from the ceiling, rust covering it's piping and framing that resembled a bird's skull, sharp beak and all; was that used to extract and inject determination into the monsters? oh god.

the boy froze as heard a faint hissing sound, turning around and seeing a purple and blue slug like monster with glowing yellow eyes and extremely sharp teeth slither towards him, leaving a trail of goo behind it just like reaper bird, the scent of lemons filling the room as the creature came closer, "INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER!" the creature screamed, several voices saying the same thing all at once, making their voices morph together into a weird distorted noise that made jack's skin crawl.

the monster screamed and opened it's mouth wide, sharp teeth shooting out as it hissed and the attack was aimed at jack, the boy dodging it and the teeth lodged themselves into the wall behind him, looking back to the creature and it stood tall on it's gooey tail, muscular arms and claws out in an intimidating attack stance, "i'm not here to fight!"

"WELCOME TO OUR SPECIAL HELL! WELCOME TO OUR SPECIAL HELL! WELCOME TO OUR SPECIAL HELL!"

the creature lunged at jack and he jumped away, "i won't fight you, i mean no harm, i promise." he cooed, hands out in defense as it slithered towards him, hissing as it did so, "WHO ARE YOU?! WHO ARE YOU?! WHO ARE YOU?!" 

"jack! my name is jack and i'm friends with doctor alphys."

the monster seemed to calm down at the mention of alphys, lowering it's arms and no longer trying to intimidate jack with it's size, "friends with the doctor? friends with the doctor? friends with the doctor?" 

"yes, friends. she told me to come down here and i'm just looking around, i won't do anything bad."

"don't do bad. don't do bad. don't do bad." it repeated as it slithered away, leaving jack confused and relieved.

  
**•••**

  
jack made his way through the foggy and cold room, feeling along the walls to try and find a way to make the several fand in this room turn on, his hand brushing against a button and he pressed it, the loud whirring of the fans filling the room and soon the fog began to leave, making it much easier to see. 

as jack turned to leave the room, the sound loud and fast footsteps began to get louder and louder and within seconds, a huge white dog-like creature with six legs and no face, just a large orifice that was leaking a small amouny white frothy liquid, goo dripping from its fur, its tail wagging excitedly and it honestly just looked like it wanted to be friends.

the dog sniffed at the air, walking towards him and sniffing at his clothes, nudging against his waist and whining, confusing the boy before he realized what it was smelling and he reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a dog treat that he had found on the ground outside the room, "this what you wanted?" he cooed and the creature's tail eagged faster, excitedly barking and bouncing, making jack laugh before he held his hand out, the dog monster shoving it's face in his hand and taking the treat happily.

as it ate the trear, the boy reacher a hand out and gently pet between its ears, the creature letting out a happy howl, "you just wanted some attention, huh?" he cooed as he slowly lowered himself onto the ground, the content dog laying itself across his lap and upper body, rubbing itself against his face affectionately and jack smiled; this creature reminded him of his uncle's dog, just much bigger and much goopier.

  
**•••**

  
jack shivered as he entered a room that seemed to be a kitchen, but was mainly just fridges and extremely cold, walking over to the monitors on the wall and beginning to read them, but he was distracted by the sound of slow footsteps, turning his head and seeing one of the bird creatures from snowdin slowly walk into the room, a trail of blue goo behind it and the sides of her head were just two of the vegetable creatures from the ruins.

"sn......o....wy."

jack walked over to the creature, who looked over to him as he did so, and he bent down to its height, "are you cold?" he cooed, wondering if it had just entered the wrong room and needed help back to the right one, "co....old..." it replied and jack gave the creature a soft smile, "do you want me to help you to another room? a warmer one?" he asked and the creature smiled a little, "yes.....pl...ease..."

"i can carry you, is that alright?"

"yes.....al....right."

gently, jack picked up the small bird creature, standing back up and holding it to his chest so that it was secured, carrying it to the room that was filled with beds that he figured were for the monsters and he set it down on one of them, "thank....you.....very.....nice."

"you're welcome, my name is jack, by the way. i'm friends with doctor alphys."

"hi.....jack.....call....me....mrs....drake."

"okay, mrs.drake. is there anything else i can help you with?"

"no.....all.....good."

jack smiled, "i'm going to go now, but it was nice meeting you."

"nice.....meeting....you...too."

jack gave her another smile, waving goodbye as he walked out of the room and she sluggishly waved back.

  
**•••**

  
jack walked through the once locked door, having placed all the colored keys into their specific locks, and he walked down a long hallway, passing by the monitors on the wall as they didn't light up this time so he didn't bother turning then on, making his way into a room with a large generator at the back of it, figuring that was what would turn the power back on and he walked over to it, pressing the button and the generator whirred to life, making jack smile and he turned around, planning to go back and look for alphys.

but, as usual, something interrupted his plan and he stopped as he heard a distorted laugh, a gooey blob with several faces slithering towards him, his phone buzzing in his pocket as they got closer and jack pulled it out, putting it up to his ear, "come join the fun." a voice called through the speaker and jack looked to the creature, "uh.....okay."

"THEN HOLD STILL!"

before jack could react, the gooey pile grew several sizes and rose like a wave, all the faces smiling widely at him as they fell on top of him, pulling him into their mass and the boy figured that this was how he was going to die, being eaten by this creature or suffocating in it's goo, closing his eyes as he waited for the goo to envelop him completely, but that never happened, it felt more like he was floating in emptiness.

out of curiosity, jack opened his eyes only to see that he was surrounded by darkness, slowly standing and looking around, "hello?" he called out, trying to figure out where he was.

"your soul is very interesting, human."

jack turned at the voice, looking around to see who was speaking, but found nobody, "so bright, so powerful.....so pained." the voice spoke and jack stopped, not liking the direction that this voice was going, "so young, not even an adult yet, but you've gone through so much and so fast too."

"stop it."

"oh, but i'm just getting started."

jack's vision went white, making him gasp in surprise, but the whiteness slowly shifted into a hazy image of his home back on the surface, eyes wetting as the image before him became a memory of his; the boy was curled up next to his younger sister on his bed, the muffled voices of their parents arguing on the other side of the door filling his ears but they weren't filling maggie's, her headphones on and eyes on her phone screen to distract her, "you said you'd protect her? what ever happened to that?"

"i-i did."

"then why did she--"

"shut up!" he screamed, covering his ears and shutting his eyes, but that didn't stop from another image flooding his vision, this one of a hospital room with a sickly woman on the bed, the boy sitting on the bed next to her and holding her hand, a weak smile on her face as she reached up and placed a hand on his cheek, " _everything will be alright, jack_." " _but, mom_ \--" " _i promise you, everything will end up fine_."

"things didn't end up fine, did they?"

"please......don't do this."

eeverything went black again, but the voices kept going; " _don't tell me how to raise my child_!" " _will he ever love me_?" " _i can't even look at you_." " _please don't leave us_." " _i'll keep you safe_." " _this is all your fault_." " _i-i said i'd protect her_." " _stop it_!" " _let me go_!"

" _let go! let go! let go! LET GO!_ "

jack gasped for breath as the darkness left, frantically sitting up and looking around to see that he was back in the lab, the creature nowhere to be seen and alphys was kneeling in front of him, extremely worried expression on her face; "o-oh my god, jack, are you okay? did they hurt you?" she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder and jack stammered for words, but emotions were clogging his throat and tears sprang into his eyes, lunging forward and clinging to alphys, letting out a sob into her lab coat and she wrapped his arms around him, putting a hand on his back for comfort.

  
**•◇•**

  
alphys placed a mug of tea in front of jack, "i'm so sorry that they attacked you like that, i-i should've been faster." she apoligized as she sat down across from him a table and jack looked up at her, "its alright alphys, nothing you did wrong." he cooed before sipping his drink, emotionally exhausted and wanting to take a nap but he knew that he couldn't, "what.....were those anyway? all of them."

"o-oh, yeah, i guess you owe you an explanation." alphys muttered, clearing her throat, "as you probably know, asgore asked me to study the nature of souls and during my research i isolated a power called "determination". i injected it into dying monster so that their souls would last after death, but.....unlike humans, monsters' bodies don't have enough physical matter to take those concentrations of determined and so.....their bodies started to melt and lose what physically they had until. pretty soon, all of the subjects had melted together into.....those."

jack listened closely, holding his mug of tea and sipping from it as alphys explained it all, "seeing them like this, i knew that......that i couldn't tell their families what had happened, i couldn't tell anyone, no matter how much everyone asked and i was too afraid to do any more work knowing that.....that everything i had done so far had been such a horrific failure. but now, i've changed my mind about all of this. i'm going to tell everyone what i've done and....and it's going to be hard, i'm sure there will be times where i struggle and screw up again, but knowing deep down that i have friends to fall back, i know it'll be a lot easier to stand on my own." alphys explained, looking up at jack with a smile, "thank you."

"f-for what?"

"you gave me the final push i needed to do this, to be myself and be honest about everything. i....i can't thank you enough for that."

jack smiled at alphys, looking down at his mug, "i was just being a supportive friend." he muttered and alphys smiled wider, "and thats what was needed, wasn't it?" she replied and jack looked back up, smiling softly even though his brain was telling him that there was still so much more to do before he should smile, but he smiled anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

a strange light fills the room as jack stares up at asgore, the king look anything but thrilled for the fight.

twilight shines through the barrier, pulsing through the room in bursts of energy that jack could feel deep inside his body.

it really seemed that jack's journey was finally over.

deep within his soul, pumping through his veins, seeping into every microscopic crevice of his body; jack was filled with determination. he had come way too far to give up now, he was going to make this work.

"human....it was nice to meet you." asgore smiled sadly before looking back down, "goodbye." he sighed before whipping out his tridant, it shining a bright and intimidating crimson, the king's fist clenched tightly around and he swung at jack, the boy jumping back in fear of being struck, but asgore wasn't aiming for him; he had been aiming for his MERCY box and he landed his shot, the box shattering before jack's eyes into unusable pieces.

he was being forced to fight, oh god no.

"mister dreemurr, please. i don't want fight you." jack pleaded, knowing that talking usually got him places and he saw asgore's hands tremble for a moment before the tightened around his trident, his hands lighting up in flames and with a simple wave of his hand, rows and rows of fire shot at the boy, which he did his best to dodge, getting burnt on his leg a little. "i don't want to fight!"

asgore's breathing faltered, but he pushed through it and sent more flames jack's way, more dodging and more burning occuring of course, "stop fighting! this isn't helping anyone!" jack cried, hoping to get through somehow, but nothing happened this time and more fire was sent his way, the boy continuing to plea and cry, but it seemed that talking wouldn't do any more good.

jack ducked as asgore swung his tridant, barely missing the attack and he stood back up, looking at the king before looking down at his missing MERCY option, taking a shaky breath before reaching into his inner coat pocket, pulling out a worn out dagger that he had picked up earlier, staring at it for a moment before tightening his fist around the handle and he looked to asgore, "i'm so sorry." he spoke before lunging forward, the king dodging somewhat but getting struck in the arm, blood starting to surface and leak down his hand.

the sight made jack want to throw up, blood had never been an issue but he had caused the blood to spill and he was making him feel like he was being the person he swore to himself that he would never be.

asgore didn't say anything, just raised his arm high in the air, trident in hand, prepared to strike, and jack found himself frozen in place, his legs refusing to move as he stared up at the sharpened weapon, thinking that those spikes on the end were going to go right through his chest, when all of the sudden a large blast of fire shot asgore in the chest, causing him to fall back a few feet, weapon sliding away from him.

what the hell?

"what a miserable creature, torturing such a poor, innocent, youth."

jack's eyes went wide at the sound of toriel's voice, slowly turning around and his eyes filling with tears as he saw the goat woman who had so kindly took him in at the very start of his journey, throwing his barely used weapon on the ground and running towards her, crashing into her open arms and clinging to her tightly, the two sinking to the ground and toriel just smiled, holding the poor boy closely, "do not be afraid, my child, i am here." she cooed, patting his head. 

"at first, i thought i would let you make your journey alone, but i just couldn't stop worrying about you. your adventure must have been so treacherous, and ultimately......it burdens you with a horrible choice and i just couldn't allow you to make that decision, it is right to sacrifice someone simply to let them leave here."

"i didn't wanna hurt him toriel, i don't want to hurt anyone."

"shhh, i know dear, i knew you were a kind one from the start." toriel smiled, the boy looking up at her and cracking a nervous smile, "let us suspend this battle, as terrible as asgore may be, he deserves mercy too." she added and jack nodded, wanting nothing more for this to end and he heard footsteps, turning his head and seeing asgore walk towards them, but he wasn't wielding his weapon or looking ready for a fight, he looked happy, "tori.....you came back."

constrating asgore's joy, toriel glared at him and rose to her feet, "do not "tori" me, dreemurr! you pathetic whelp, if you really wanted to free our kind, you could have gone through the barrier with just one soul, then taken six souls from the humans on the surface and came back, freed everyone peacefully. but what did you do? you made everyone live in despair because you would rather wait here, meekly hoping another human never comes."

".....toriel....you're right, i am a miserable creature, but.....do you think we can at least be friends, again?"

toriel sighed, "no, asgore." she muttered and while jack felt bad for asgore, he knew that there was a point that the king was missing and it would take a long time for the two to heal before they could event attempt at a friendship.

faintly, jack could hear someone's rapid footsteps and he peaked out through the entry way, walking a little into the precious room and seeing undyne burst inside, "ngah! asgore! human! nobody fight each other!" she cried as asgore and toriel followed jack into the room, all three looking confusedly at the warrior, "everyone's gonna make friends or i'll.....i'll......" she faltered, not having any words to add and toriel smiled, "hello there, i am toriel, are you the human's friend?"

"uhh....yeah!"

"it is nice to meet you."

"nice to meet you." undyne smiled before everyone stopped at the sound of quick footstepa, "h-hey! nobody hurt each other!" alphys exclaimed as she ran into the room, looking panicked and frazzled, but the sight of jack and asgore not fighting calmed her down, "oh, are you another friend? i am toriel, hello!" toriel asked upon the scientist's arrival, "uh, h-hi."

"hey! nobody fight anyone!" papyrus shouted as he ran in, "if anyone fights anyone, then i'll be forced!...to ask undyne for help!" he added, fists clenched as if he was ready to fight but he was just very passionate, and toriel waved, "hello."

"oh! hello!"

"hey guys, what's up?"

at sans' greeting, toriel's eyes widened, "that voice." she muttered to herself before walking over to the skeleton, "hello, i think we may know each other." she smiled and sans smiled back, "oh, hey, i recognize your voice too."

"i am toriel, so nice to meet you."

"the name's sans, and same."

"oh! then this must be your brother papyrus!" toriel smiled at the realization before turning to the taller skeleton, "greetings, papyrus. it is so nice to finally meet you, your brother has told me so much about you." she cooed and papyrus' smile was absolutely beaming, "wowie....i can't believe asgore's clone knows who i am! this is the best day of my life!"

with a small smirk, toriel spoke again, "hey papyrus, do you know what a skeleton tiles his roof with?"

"hmm...snow-proof roof tiles?"

"no, silly. a skeleton tiles his roof with _shin_ -gles!"

despite the laughter that came from the rest of the people in the room, papyrus' beaming turned into an exasperated scowl, "i changed my mind! this is the worst day of my life!"

toriel turned back around to jack, a soft smile on her face before she walked over to the boy, "my child, it seems as if you must stay here for awhile, but looking at all the great friends you have made.......i think you will be happy here."

jack smiled back at her, "i think so too." he replied before hugging her again, burying his face in her shoulder.

"h-hey that reminds me..." alphys muttered, turning to papyrus, "papyrus, you call everyone here, right?---well, except her. anyways, if i got here before you, how did you know to call everybody?" she asked and papyrus smiled, "lets just say; a tiny flower helped me."

jack's eyes widened and he pulled away from toriel, his and alphys both wearing panicked expression, "a tiny....f-flower?"

at alphys' shaky question, vines burst out from beneath the ground, coiling around everyone except jack and raising them in the air, gripping tightly and thorns cutting into them, an all too familiar golden flower popping up from the ground in front of jack, giggling to itself.

"you idiots!" flowey cackled, a sadistic smile on his face, "while you guys were all having your little pow-wow; i took the human souls!" he grinned, "and now, not only are those under my power, but all of your friends' souls are gonna be mine, too!"

"no." jack breathed out, not wanting everything to be ripped away from him again, flowey just laughing and rising up to jack's height with a vine, getting in his face, "and you know what the best part is? it's all your fault." he smiled, coiling around jack's waist and resting on his shoulder, "it's all because you made then love you; all the time you spent listening to them, encouraging them, caring about them---without that, they wouldn't have come here." the flower smiled cruely, squeezing the vines around jack's waist and he let out a struggled noise at the pressure, "and now, with their souls and the humans' together; i will achieve my real form!"

"was a smiley little flower not evil enough for you?"

jack grunted as flowey coiled the vine tighter in response to the boy's remark, giggling and jack clenched his jaw, "why are you still doing this?"

"don't you get it? this is all just a _game_." flowey spat before freeing the boy of the vines, but still staying really close, "if you leave the underground satisfied, then you win the game. if you _win_ , you won't want to _play_ with me anymore. and what would i do then?"

"find someone else to play with like any normal person would?"

"sure, i could do that. but, luckily, i won't need to! because this game between us, will _never_ end! i'll hold victory in front of you, _just_ within your reach, and then tear it away just before you grasp it! over and over and over!"

jack swallowed thickly as flowey laughed, jaw and fists clenched as he prepared himself for an inevitable battle; "listen, if you do defeat me, i'll give you your happy ending; i'll bring your friends back, i'll destroy the barrier, everyone will _finally_ be satisfied......but that won't happen!" flowey shouted, getting right in jack's face, "i'll keep you here no matter what!" he spat before backing away, wrapping a vine around jack and lifting the boy up in the air, his soul flickering before him, "even if it means killing you one million times!"

jack cried out pain as flowey slammed attack after attack into him, thorns digging into his skin and poisonous seeds being lauched at him, leaving burns where they landed, all the while flowey was laughing maniacally, the boy hanging his head and struggling to get a full breath of air, knowing that flowey was preparing his final strike and he wasn't sure what to do, having come too far to lose now but he was stuck.

suddenly, a warm healing spell rushed through him and he gasped lowly, looking up and seeing toriel smiling at him despite her own pain, "do not be afraid, my child; no matter what happens, we will always be there to protect you." she cooed, flowey preparing another attack but glowing blue bones and arrows blocked his attack from landing, "that's right, human! you can win, just do what i would do; believe in you!" papyrus beamed and undyne gave jack a wide grin, "hey! human! if you got past me, you can do anything! don't worry, we're with you all the way!"

sans chuckled, smiling at the boy, "you haven't beaten this guy yet? c'mon, this weirdo's got nothing on ya."

more attacks were blocked by the group of monsters and jack couldn't help but smile, tempted to cry from all the support, "t-technically, it's impossible for you to beat him, b-but somehow, i know you can do it!"

"human, for the future of humans and monsters; you have to stay determined."

a crowd of monsters burst into the room, jack recognizing each and every one as they erupted into cheers, sending their support and praise and he laughed, looking at flowey who was absolutely fuming; "urgh! no!" he cried, "unbelievable! this can't be happening! you!.....you!......" he trailed off, his angry glare slowly shifting into a sadistic smile and jack's heart sank, "i can't believe you're all so stupid! all of your souls are mine!"

"NO!"

despite jack's scream, the ground began to shake and flowey let him go, causing him to crash to the ground just as a bright white light filled the room, blinding him and jack curled up into a ball, shielding himself and selfishly hoping that this was all just a nightmare and he'd wake up in his uncle's guest bedroom, but he knew better than that as he waited for the ground to stop quaking.

after what felt like forever, everything settled and jack opened his eyes, slowly lifting his head up from the ground and he looked up, seeing a goat boy standing before him the now completely empty room, said boy looked to be about his height, his fur a snowey white, his ears matching toriel's and asgore's, jack's eyes widening as he realized who was standing infront of him, slowly rising to his feet.

"finally.....i was so tired of being a flower."

".......asriel?" jack whispered and the goat boy turned around, his smile looking much more kind than flowey's, raising his hand in a wave, "howdy!" he beamed and jack tried to find words, but he really couldn't, "chara, are you there? it's me, your best friend."

before jack could speak, another white flash filled his vision and he covered his eyes, only to be shoved at and sent flying into the room that held the barrier, sliding across the floor and he groaned, looking up as he did so and his eyes widened at what he saw.

asriel was no longer the small child that he was a second ago; horns were long and curled, as were his claws, his eyes bright red surrounded by blackness, standing tall in a robe that was similar to toriel's, a grin on his face as he moved over to jack, grabbing the boy by the collar and lifting him up in the air, "we're going to have so much fun." asriel smiled, his voice distorted with the power inside of him, before he slammed a hand against jack's chest, launching him right into the core of the barrier and jack expected to hit something and fall, but he never did.

he was just......floating, surrounded by almost blinding multicolor light that was pulsing with energy, asriel floating with him and trails of rainbow light following behind him as he moved, jack looking dowm at his arms and moving them, seeing that the same thing happened to him; was he inside the barrier?

asriel raised his arms, multicolored stars circling around his hands before he launched them at jack, the boy scrambling to get out of the way of the meteor shower and finding that it was rather difficult to move when you were suspended in air, "you know, i don't care about destroying this world anymore." asriel informed before raising a hand, aiming his palm at jack and thick bolts of lightning crashing around the human as he did his best to dodge the attack, crying out when he got hit, but he held on; "then what are you doing this for?"

"after i defeat you and gain control of the timeline, i'm going to reset everything."

two swords phased into asriel's hands, the godly being swinging them at jack and cutting into him a couple times, missing here and there, "what do you mean reset? you want to start from the beginning?" jack asked, wiping blood from his cheek as it leaked from a cut, "exactly! all your progress, everyone's memories; i'll bring them all back to zero, then we can do everything all over again."

"why bother with all that? can't you just forms bonds with the people now and make things better? why erase everyone's progress in their lives when you can just keep going?"

asriel laughed coldly at that, giving jack a condescending look, "you just don't get it, do you?" he sighed before holding an arm out, some type of canon forming around his forearm and he aimed at jack, a large burst of energy blasting from the barrell and jack jumped out of the way, but got hit and was sent spinning in the gravity-less zone, struggling to gain stability; "it doesn't matter what you think, because in the end; everything will start anew and we'll wind up here again."

"you want to get stuck in a loop?"

"erasing everyone's memory includes you, jack; you'll wind up back here because you "love" your friends, right? you're doing this to protect them, aren't you? if you were just trying to leave, you would've killed asgore and moved on with your life, but no, you just had to care for people who wanted to fight you from the start."

swords slashed at jack once again, cutting across his chest and exposed skin, blood arising and his clothes being ripped where the sharp blade cut through the fabric, his dodging getting sloppy; "we're here because you never give up, too stubborn---or _determined_ \---to stand down."

"we're here because you brought us here." jack spat, "you wanted a fight, i haven't done anything to you."

asriel laughed, "maybe so, but that just means that i'll be your downfall; what an honor." 

lightning and thunder crashed around the blonde, torching fabric that was struggling to stay on him and burning exposed skin, it getting harder and harder to stay strong, but jack knew that giving up would make everything end up wrong; "enough messing around!" asriel cried, "it's time to purge this timeline once and for all!" he beamed and a large goat skull formed before him, it laughing along with him as it stared jack down, the ivory jaw of the skull opening wide and a beam of light shot out of it's mouth, enveloping jack and the human screamed.

it felt like he was coming apart piece by piece, down to the very cells in his body, and it burned, oh god did it burn, but he clenched his eyes shut and shielded his face, the thought of all the friends he made down here getting out of this keeping him determined enough to keep going, waiting out the attack no matter how badly it hurt him.

jack let out a heavy breath as the beam died down, his body nearly going completely limp and he looked up at asriel, who seemed frustrated yet impressed; "even after that attack, you're still standing in my way? wow, you really are something special." he scoffed, shakimg his head and jack smirked, "don't get cocky, human; i've only being using a fraction of my real power. let's see what good your determination does against this!"

white light filled jack's vision before everything went dark and silent, the only sound being the faint wooshing of wind and jack's eyes widened as asriel's new form faded into his vision; large multicolored wings flowing with energy, sharper horns and claws, along with a sharp toothed grin.

jack went to move, but found that his legs were trapped in place, only his arms having an sense of mobility and his heart slammed in his chest, panic and fear welling up inside of him; was this the end?

"behold, my true power!"

asriel sent wave after wave of damaging energy at jack, each one crashing into him and each one hurting more than the last, the boy seeing his heart shaped soul quaking in front of him as if it was also fearing for it's safety, cracks forming at it's edges; "your life will end here, jack! in a world where nobody remembers you!"

asriel sent more attacks, more cracks forming in the pounding red heart and jack panted for breath, it getting harder to breathe, "you're still hanging on? ha, that attitude will serve you well in your next life."

more attacks, more cracks, but the damaged and shaking soul kept itself together despite that.

"c'mon, show me what good your determination is now!"

jack clenched his jaw, curling his hands into fists and he looked at asriel, "it's....it's good enough to....beat....you." he spat, struggling to get the words out.

this was really going to be it, wasn't it? despite how badly he wanted to save his friends and himself, it was all still falling apart. the whole world was ending and it was going to be thrown back in time, everyone's lives starting over from scratch; was this truly impossible?

no.....no, it couldn't be! nothing would stop him!

suddenly jack's whole body went hot, the power of his determination filling every crack of his soul as let out a loud cry, the damage being taken away and the pain leaving with it, his soul looking completely whole and unharmed.

with this power, he had do more than just fix himself.

jack reached out, moving as far forward as he could with the limited mobility he had and his hand met asriel's chest, fingers brushing against the rainbow soul in the middle, warping through colors just like his wings; his friends were in there somewhere, weren't they?

within the depths of asriel's soul, something was resonating, something powerful.

suddenly, jack's vision went white and once everything cleared, he saw nothing but darkness, slowly testing his limbs and discovering that he could move once again, his footsteps echoing beneath him, "hello?" he called out, getting echoes in return, "anyone there?" he tried once again, hoping that he didn't just get absorbed into the mess of souls and that he was actually going to be able to do something here.

"just give up, kid." a familiar voice sounded and jack turned around, seeing sans standing behind him, but things were different; he was fading in and out, his face covered by a mass of multicoloured and glitched out pixels, as if he was just a hologram, "i can't give up."

"why not? i did."

before jack could say another word, a tall wall of bones sprouted from the ground in front of him, making him gasp in surprise and blocking his view of the skeleton, "oh ho! a human!" the well-known voice of papyrus sounded, jack turning around and seeing the taller skeleton standing several feet away, the same thing happening to his face as sans' and he ran towards him, but papyrus took this as a threat and a wave of bones was thrown at the boy, but jack ducked down and slid beneath them, dodging the attack with ease and getting back up, continuing his run, "i will capture you, human!"

"i'm here to save you!"

"you will do nothing but be captured!"

sharp bones were flung at jack, the blonde dodging them best he could but getting struck by one and he fell to the ground, putting a hand to his wound and finding no blood was leaking from it, but bright white light was beaming out instead, "we're friends, papyrus."

"friends?! with a human?! don't be ridiculous!"

jack groaned in frustration, standing back up, jumping in surprise when sans appeared before him, "why even try?" he muttered, "because i care about you."

"you'll never see 'em again, what's the point?"

jack lunged forward, grabbing the skeleton in a tight hug, "we can get out of this." he mumbled, standing there and continuing to hold om tightly, smiling when he felt the skeleton hug him back, "i'm rooting for ya, kid." sans smiled as jack pulled away and jack looked up, seeing papyrus was back to normal as well, "you're my friend! i could never capture you!" he exclaimed before hugging the human tightly, "you can do this, human! i believe in you!"

jack pulled away from the hug with a smile, "i'll do my best."

with that said, papyrus and sans faded away with smiles, jack hoping that it meant he had saved them and he looked around, searching for more of his friends, "hello?!" he called, cupping his hands around his mouth to try and get as much volume as possible, wanting---no, needing---to be heard.

jack began running, figuring that if he covered more ground at a faster rate, he was bound to find someone; although, he didn't expect to literally run into someone but he found himself colliding into something before falling to the floor, "oh no! i'm so sorry!" a female voice gasped and jack looked up, seeing alphys with the same pixelated look as the skeletons standing before him, "it's okay." he reassured before standing up, "y-you hate me, don't you?"

"what? no, no alphys i could never hate you."

"thats only b-because i keep lying...i have to keep lying."

jack gave the scientist a soft smile, "you don't, i know your secret and i still care about you, you're a great friend and a great person." he cooed, bending down a little to her height, hugging her tightly, "i'm here for you, alphys." he added and he smiled when he felt her hugging back, "i-i care about you too, jack, you're an amazing friend."

jack pulled away with a smile, "stay strong, okay?" she cooed and jack nodded, "i will."

just as alphys faded away, a blue spear flew by jack and planted itself into the ground next to him, making him cry out in surprise and fear, turning around and seeing undyne, "you can't run from me, human!" she cried and jack scrambled to his feet, "undyne, it's me, jack! i'm your friend." he tried, but undyne just laughed, "don't be ridiculous!" she spat before throwing another spear, it grazing against his side and light pouring out from the wound, "you're the real enemy!"

jack didn't hesitate before running forward, dodging arrows that were thrown his way before crashing into the warrior, hugging her tightly, "i may be a human but i still want you and everyone else down here to come out safe." he rushed out, burying his face in her waist as she towered over him and he felt her hand rest on his head, giving it a gentle pat, "well, some humans are okay i guess." 

jack moved away as undyne faded away, figuring who he was going to meet next and he cupped his hands over his mouth, "toriel!? asgore?! can you hear me?!" he shouted, wanting to find the last two boss monsters and get this done, "my child." he heard toriel coo and he turned around, "i'm sorry, but this is for your own good." she continued and the smile on jack's face fell before flames were shot at him and he junoed out of the way, opening his mouth to speak but gasping instead when asgore's trident slashed inches away from him, looking to his right and seeing the king; "forgive me for this."

"stop fighting, we don't need to fight! everything will be okay!" 

"it has to be this way." asgore stated before slashing again, jack dodging the attack, "prove to me that you're strong enough." toriel spoke before balls of fire were thrown at the jack, who avoided them, "i have come so far, toriel. i can save everyone, i'm not leaving until it's safe for us all!" he shouted before running towards her, hugging her, "i know you want to protect me, but let me help you."

toriel slowly put a hand on jack's back, hugging him and patting his head, "your fate is up to you now, dear, do what you think is right." she cooed and jack backed away with a smile, turning to asgore as she faded and he walked over to the king, hugging him, "i understand why you're doing this, but there is another way and it can work. it will work, you just have to trust me, please." he spoke, hearing the trident clatter to the floor and asgore put a hand on his back, "you are our future, do what you must."

jack's vision went completely white as asgore faded away, suddenly back in the void with asriel and he looked up at the godly being, the boy realizing that one more monster needed to be saved and he took a deep breath before reaching forward again, touching asriel's soul and the monster's eyes widened, "wh-what are you doing?" he asked and jack didn't say anything, just held onto the power of asriel's soul and his vision went white, memories that didn't belong to him flashing through his head.

a child laying face down on a bed of flowers and a worried goat child walking over to them, taking them back to his home so they feel safe and a bond forming before terrible things happened to the family that was created.

jack's vision went back to normal, realizing what he saw and he looked up at asriel as he let go of the monster's soul, "wh....what did you do?" asriel asked, sounding like a frightened child, "what's this feeling? what's happening to me?"

"asriel, i--"

"no! no, i don't need anyone!"

asriel sent blasts of energy at jack, way too many for the boy to avoid, but he found that they didn't even hurt him; was asriel doing that on purpose?

"asriel, everyone needs someone, it doesn't matter who they are." jack cooed, knowing from experience that it was the truth, but the monster wasn't giving in, "stop it! get away from me! i'll tear you apart!" he screamed, sending more attacks but still doing no damage and his head fell, looking ready to cry, "do you know why i'm doing this? why i keep fighting to keep you around?" he mumbled, "it's because you're special, jack, you're the only one that understands me. you're the only one who's any fun to play with anymore......no, that's not just it, i.....i'm doing this because i care about you, okay? i care about you almost as much as i cared about them and i'm not ready for this to end, jack, i'm not ready for you to leave, i'm not ready to say goodbye to someone like you, again."

"asriel....."

"so, please......stop doing this! just let me win!" he cried, putting his hands together and a huge blast of light came from his hands, shooting straight into jack's soul and it was a powerful beam, but not damage was done and jack kept his eyes on asriel despite the bright light, "stop it! stop it now!" he screamed, tears leaking out of his eyes and eventuallly, he let his hands fall and the beam disappeared.

".......i'm so alone, jack." he whispered and jack watched as his godly form slowly faded away, reverting back to the small child that he truly was, "i'm so afraid, jack." he added, voice shaky with tears and jack hesitantly moved forward, realizing that he could move again, and he slowly made his way over to asriel, who was now crying and just a goat child wearing a striped shirt and pants, sniffling and wiping at his face, "i'm so sorry."

jack stood in front of asriel as the monster let out a tiny laugh, "i always sort of a cry baby." he sniffled and jack gave him a smile, "crying isn't a bad thing." he cooed and asriel looked up at him, "i.....i know you aren't really, chara, you're just.....you two are so alike and....."

"it hurt."

"yeah....chara's been gone for a long time and i.....seeing you, i just wanted to act like they were back again. that's a little messed up, but i felt something that i hadn't felt for a long time when i was around you, being with a friend." he explained and he wiped at his face with his sleeve, "as a flower, i was soulless; i didn't have the power to love other people, but now, with all these souls inside me....i not only have my own compassion back, but i can feel everyone else's as well and they really care about each other so much, jack, and they care about you, too."

jack stayed quiet, wanting asriel to say what he wanted, "i wish i could tell you how everyone feels about you; sans, papyrus, undyne, alphys.....toriel. monsters are weird, they barely know you, but it feels like they all really love you." he smiled and jack smiled back, his heart swelling at the idea of all his friends loving him back, "jack, i.....i understand if you can't forgive me, i understand if you hate me; i acted so strange and horrible, i hurt you and so many others....there's no excuse for what i've done."

"asriel, i don't hate you, i forgive you."

at jack's words, asriel's eyes widened, "jack, c'mon.....you're gonna make me cry again."

jack chuckled lightly at his words and asriel smiled sadly, "but, even if you do forgive me, i can't keep these souls inside of me.....the least i can do is return them.....but, with everyone's power, with everyone's determination....it's time for monsters to finally go free." he spoke before backing away from jack, closing his eyes as he began floating, a circle of six human souls forming around his chest before all the monster souls burst out of him and all the souls soared towards the barrier, ramming into it and jack watched the multicolored wall break into two before completely disappearing, the powerful energy in the room fading away before them along with the souls.

asriel's eyes slowly opened back up and he looked at jack, "....i have to go now, it won't be long before i become a flower again." he mumbled sadly and he sighed, "its probably for the best if you just forget about me, okay? go be with the people who love you." he continued and jack walked forward, hugging the goat child tightly and burying his face in his shoulder, asriel hugging back and doing the same, "ha....i don't wanna let go."

"me either."

despite their words, asriel let go and jack pulled away, "you're going to do a great job, okay? no matter what you do, everyone will be there for you." he cooed and he began walking away into the darkness, "jack....can you....can you look after mom and dad for me?" he asked and jack smiled, "of course i can."

asriel gave him a wide smile, "thank you." he mumbled before completely disappearing, jack's vision going white as he did so.

  
**•••**

  
jack woke up with a low gasp, eyes opening and seeing his friends standing over him, relief on their faces as they saw him wake up, "oh, you're awake, thank goodness." toriel smiled and jack slowly stood up, "w-we were so worried, it felt like you were out!" alphys stammered and undyne chuckled, "yeah, any longer and i would have freaked out! tell us next time you decide to take a nap okay?"

jack chuckled, "yeah, i can do that, no problem."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! this ending could have been done better but i'm alright with it.

jack walked into the first room in the underground where the bed of golden flowers had cushioned his fall, seeing asriel sitting in the middle of them, knees to his chest and jack hesitantly made his way over, sitting down next to him silently, ".......its better if they never see me, i don't wanna break their hearts all over again."

"i won't make you see them if you don't want to." 

asriel smiled sadly, looking down at the flowers beneath his feet, "jack.......can i ask you something?" he mumbled and jack nodded, turning to him, "...why did you come here? everyone knows the legend, right? so, why would you ever climb a mountain like that?" he asked and jack took a breath, "i was trying to get to the other side, my uncles live there."

"but, what about your parents? did you just leave them?"

jack smiled sadly, "its complicated." he answered simply, not wanting to get into it right now and asriel nodded, understanding, "......i know why chara climbed the mountain, it wasn't a very happy reason.......they hated humanity, i'm not sure why, but they felt very strongly about that." asriel spoke before looking up at jack, "you really are different from them, jack. i don't really know why i was acting like you were the same, maybe....maybe they weren't the best person, while you're the type of friend i wish i always had, so i guess i was just projecting."

jack smiled, "i don't blame you for doing that, coming to terms with who someone truly is isn't easy at all."

".....they wanted to fight the people in the village, but i....i resisted and then....i always blamed myself for that decision, and that's why i adopted that horrible view of the world, but now.....jack, i don't regret that decision anymore, i did the right thing. it might not have been a perfect choice, but in the end, everyone went free, right? even if it took a long time, you can't regret hard choices your whole life.....not that i have much of a life left."

"actually, there's something i wanted to ask you about that." jack muttered before sitting up on his knees, facing his body to asriel and the monster watched as jack's soul appeared before them, "jack, what are you doing?" he asked, "well, a monster soul's power is just a fraction of a human soul, right?" jack smiled before grabbing at his soul, hesitantly breaking off a tiny little shard of the bright red heart, wincing the tiniest bit because it hurt a little, but the sting left rather quickly, "this should work, shouldn't it?"

"jack.....thats _your_ soul!"

"exactly, it's my soul, so i get to choose what i do with it."

the small shard morphed into its own little heart, jack smiling as he held it out to the monster, "you deserve to have a full life, asriel." he cooed and the goat boy looked ready to cry as he took the tiny heart, putting it to his chest and the soul piece being absorbed into him and a soft white light waved over him as his body accepted it.

jack's soul disappeared back into his chest, a wide smile on his face and asriel lunged forward, tackling him on the bed of the flowers and hugging him tightly, jack hugging back, "thank you, god, jack, thank you so so much!" asriel cried, overjoyed and jack smiled, hugging tighter.

  
**•◇•**

  
"oh my...." toriel breathed out as she stared at the sunrise, jack smiling beside her as he looked at his friends look at the surface world in awe, pride filling up his chest at the knowledge that they finally became free; "isn't it beautiful, everyone?" asgore smiled, "wow, its even better than on tv, better than i ever imagined!" 

"jack, you _live_ with this? the sunlight is so nice and the air is so fresh! i really feel alive!"

"hey, sans, whats that giant ball?" papyrus asked and sans chuckled, "we call that the sun, my friend." he explained and papyrus' face lit up, "that's the sun?! wowie! i can't believe i'm finally meeting the sun!" he beamed and jack giggled, "i could stand here for hours." asriel muttered, holding toriel's hand and she smiled, "while it is beautiful, we should really think about what comes next."

asgore cleared his throat, "correct. everyone, this is the beginning of a bright new future, an era of peace between humans and monsters." he spoke before turning to jack, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, "jack, i have something to ask of you; will you act as our ambassador to the humans?" he asked and jack's eyes widened, "m-me? really? i-i'm just a kid, not a very smart one at that."

"i disagree; you freed us all, did you not? i think you would be the best for the job."

"i agree! jack would be the best ambassador!" papyrus cheered and jack blushed a little, laughing, "in that case, i'd be happy to be your ambassador." he smiled and papyrus let out a joyous cry, "hooray! oh, and don't you worry human! i, the great papyrus, will be the best mascot!" he exclaimed and jack smiled, "you'll be an excellent mascot, papyrus."

"i'll go make a good first impression!"

with that said, papyrus took off into a sprint, running off to go greet the humans without knowing where the hell he was going, "papyrus, wait---he's gone." alphys sighed and sans shrugged, "welp, someone's gotta keep him from getting into trouble. see you guys." he smiled with a wink before walking in the opposite direction that papyrus went and undyne groaned, "do i have to do _everything_?! papyrus, wait!" she cried before running after the skeleton, "u-undyne, wait for me!" alphys called before running after her.

everyone watched as the three monsters took off, dissapearing into the thick forest and asgore turned to toriel, "....i should do something, shouldn't i?"

at toriel's minor glare, asgore flustered and cleared his throat, "well, gotta go." he stammered before rushing off after the others and toriel watched him, "seems that everyone is quite eager to set off." she muttered with a smile before turning to jack, "jack, you came from this world, correct? so, you must have a place to return to, do you not?"

that made jack's heart sink a bit; yes, he did come from this world but he didn't come from a happy place, and while he figured that he did have a place to go, there was a part of him that was worried they wouldn't want him to live there.

"i.....i do have a place, i just.....it's complicated and i don't know if they'll want me to stay." he muttered, knowing that his uncles loved him, but did they want him around all the time? "if you can't stay there, you are more than welcome to stay with us, jack." toriel cooed and jack looked up at her, "really? you'd want that?"

toriel chuckled a little, "jack, do you not remember where you and me started? of course i'd want you to stay with us, plus, i think asriel would enjoy seeing his friend that often." she smiled and asriel nodded with a smile, "if you need a place, we're open for you!" he beamed and jack smiled, "thank you, but even if i don't need a place, i'll see you all the time, i don't want to be away from you all for too long."

toriel chuckled and asriel grabbed jack's hand, "c'mon! let's go catch up to them!" the monster kid beamed before running, holding jack's hand and dragging him along, but the human didn't mind and he ran just as quick, wanting to keep up with his friend.

**Author's Note:**

> don't mind the spelling/grammar mistakes. i'm lazy by nature and don't pay attention to things.


End file.
